Counselling service for stressed lawyers extended to judges

Judges are being offered stress counselling to help them to cope with the "unbearable" pressure and loneliness of life on the Bench.

A confidential helpline will put judges in contact with counsellors who have been advising troubled solicitors and barristers on their problems with stress, drink and drugs.

The decision to extend the service to the 3,000 judges in England and Wales was taken by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, who believes the judiciary are vulnerable to stress.

He recently told an audience of British and Australian lawyers: "The stresses to which the judiciary are subjected while performing their responsibilities under the glaring scrutiny of the media are of a different order from those in the past. Judges can need support."

He added: "The lonely responsibility of a judge sitting alone doing justice can at times become unbearable."

The helpline and counselling service for the legal profession, Lawcare, is run by Hillary Tilby, a former colleague of Lord Woolf. They were barristers at the same chambers in London before Lord Woolf became a full-time judge. Now Lord Woolf has agreed to become president of Lawcare.

Ms Tilby said that she was still waiting for the first judge to contact the helpline but acknowledged that their unique role in society came with unique pressures. "There is a question over their isolation with no one to turn to and the expectations and attitudes that people have about judges. But we must remember that they are human beings just like everybody else."

Ms Tilby has been asked by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, head of the family division of the High Court, to address the annual conference of family judges in Northampton this month. Later she will talk to a group of district judges about what benefit Lawcare can be to them.

Most solicitors and barristers who contact the helpline are suffering from stress and need help in tackling demanding workloads and financial pressures. "Even with the drug and drink addictions the underlying cause is usually stress," Ms Tilby said.

In some high-profile cases a judge can find himself or herself the subject of intense media interest. Three years ago the Lord Chancellor's Department issued judges with guidelines on how to cope with the press during a case of great public interest. The guidance included how to handle reporters' questions and what to do about "door-stepping", when journalists camped outside people's homes.

Last year Lord Woolf was the subject of intense media criticism when his guidelines on the punishment of burglars were misreported. Newspaper headlines described him as the "burglars' friend" while tabloid reporters waited outside his home and talked to neighbours.

In his recent speech in Australia Lord Woolf suggested other ways to help judges cope with the pressures of the job.

He said: "The senior judiciary should be especially concerned about the welfare of their more junior colleagues. Certainly in England, it is being increasingly realised that new judges may need mentors. It is difficult to impose upon busy colleagues. I believe there could be great value in another judge being identified as the person responsible for giving you support. Similarly, the performance appraisal process I mentioned earlier can give judges valuable reassurance and tactful guidance as to how they can improve."

A LONG, HARD DAY ON THE BENCH

The days have gone when judges spent the morning in court before adjourning for an afternoon on the golf course or a long dinner at their club.

The modern judge has a modern workload that means taking trial papers home and spending holidays boning up on changes in the law.

It's not unusual for a judge to work 10 to 12 hours a day.

Before court sits at 10am the judge will have been busy in chambers reading into the case. And long after court rises at 4.30pm the judge will be preparing for the following day or writing up judgments from previous cases.

More recently judges have had to face the threat of violence from offenders or disgruntled litigants. One Old Bailey judge needed hospital treatment after a defendant leapt over the dock and struck her in the face.

Judges say underfunding of the system means that they are under pressure as never before. In some legal areas there are backlogs, which gives them little respite between trials.

In the commercial courts City clients expects quick rulings, while the criminal justice system aims to process cases at a much faster rate. And the judge knows that a sloppy judgment or misunderstanding of the law leaves his or her decision vulnerable to appeal.