A few short months ago I took a call from Alex Davies at Ark Group publishers. "Would you be interested" she asked, "in contributing to a book about the mental health and wellbeing of lawyers". I probably tried to be funny and say something like "No, not really my scene, I think you've got the wrong Richard Martin".
Very quickly though, of course, I said "Oh yes, and actually, when you say 'contribute to it', I mean can't we just write it? When are you looking to publish?" "March" she said, "2020". I laughed. No-one gets a book together and published in that time frame. Well apparently they do. And they do it best by getting a group of people to work on it together.
All of which means I am hugely honoured to have contributed to this new and timely book, honoured most by the hallowed list of other contributors, many of whom I am pleased to know - Kate Dodd, Elizabeth Rimmer, Matt Dean, Kayleigh Leonie, Richard Collier and James Pereira. The others I don't know I am eager to meet - Bree Buchanan, Emma Jones, Lubna Gem Arielle, Paul Bennett and Renee Branson. With all of those folk imparting their wisdom I only got to do the introduction!
Its a truism that our worlds have been turned upside down in the last few weeks. What could something written BC (before Covid) possibly tell us about today? And therein of course lies another truism - the wisdom these authors provide stands the test of even the greatest of changes and resonates ever louder in our new normal. So have a read. Skip the intro though if I were you.
Lawyer Health and Wellbeing - How the Legal Profession is Tackling Stress and Creating Resiliency
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