Gall hosted a small breakfast event for our family law friends and colleagues to discuss the important topic of mental health in Hong Kong. After a short introduction from our Executive Partner Caroline McNally, Simon Bruce from Farrer & Co in London shared insights from a recent UK Law Society talk organised by the NGO Support Through Court about the explosion of consciousness surrounding wellness and mental health in the UK over the past few years, the importance of kindness, empathy and compassion amongst family lawyers in dealing with the work they do, and grounds for optimism in the family courts. Hannah Reidy, CEO at Mind HK and a UK-trained clinical psychologist then offered her perspective on the Hong Kong context regarding mental health and people affected in the workplace. She talked about the broad spectrum for mental health and provided advice on how to identify risk factors in colleagues, clients as well as in ourselves, and gave suggestions for how family lawyers and their employers can better look out for one another.
As one guest at the event poignantly asked: “If we as family lawyers are the guardians, who guards the guardians?”
