Workplace Culture – what is it?

A healthy culture is one where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.  It is an effective and high-performance environment, optimally designed to support people for the demands of legal practice.

Workplace culture can determine organisational success and is powerfully evident in a host of factors, including:

• organisational purpose, performance and impact,

• talent attraction and development,

• levels of personal and professional wellbeing,

• range and nature of policies and practices,

• client engagement,

• leadership styles, and

• diversity, inclusion and belonging at work.

Culture First – partnering with legal workplaces 

Building the optimal conditions to meet the demands of legal practice may require strategic thinking and specialist support. Law Society Psychological Services is partnering with legal workplaces to put Culture First across the legal profession.

How does Culture First work?

Each workplace is unique and will require distinct levels of support. Law Society Psychological Services can map out the most suitable process with participating legal workplaces.

This can involve:

• assessing cultural strengths, gaps and fresh ideas from across all levels of participating legal workplaces (through e.g. surveys, focus group discussions, interviews);

• co-creating a Culture First strategy with Law Society Psychological Services that guides legal workplaces to embed new healthy and progressive practices;

• accessing tailored Law Society resources (e.g. suite of Toolkits, a Law Society Psychological Services hub offering easy access to online courses: Learning Platform); and 

• achievement of Law Society Culture First Chartership (in development).

Culture First ‘Well Within the Law’

Law Society Psychological Services, in consultation with business psychologists SEVEN; Psychology at Work, is partnering with RDJ LLP to put Culture First. This is a pilot initiative, and the innovative experience will inform future Culture First partnerships.

How is this done?

The programme has three distinct steps:

1. Review: firm-wide confidential surveys, focus group discussions and interviews to assess cultural strengths and gaps, and generate fresh ideas.
2. Organisational report: prepared by Law Society Psychological Services and SEVEN to guide RDJ’s ongoing building of a healthy and inclusive workplace.
3. Law Society Culture First Chartership: recognition of having taken clear and measurable steps to build a psychologically healthy and inclusive workplace.

Latest News

• RDJ takes lead on changing culture in law firms - Gazette article
• ‘Culture First’ – changing workplace culture - Gazette article

Get Involved

If you are a legal workplace and are interested in learning more about this programme or a future partnership, contact ps@lawsociety.ie. We look forward to supporting you and your team in shaping culture that inspires and elevates our entire legal community.