I ATTENDED THE MINDFUL BUSINESS MOVEMENT. HERE’S WHAT I LEARNT.

By Jasper Lim

A few years ago, I read an interview SAL had done with Mr Danny Quah, which prompted me to think more seriously about mental health in the profession. Since then, conversations around sustainability and wellbeing have become more visible and more urgent. I have also seen this shift reflected in my own workplace, where colleagues are increasingly taking these issues seriously.

With that in mind, I attended the Mindful Business Movement session held on 11 February 2026. It is an initiative focused on how leadership, ways of working, and professional values can better support sustainable performance in the legal sector.

The session itself was structured simply, with a presentation by Richard Martin followed by a guided discussion. What stayed with me was less the framework, and more the exchange that followed.

One recurring theme was the expectation of constant availability. For junior lawyers, this is something many teams are actively trying to manage. In my own team, we try to make this explicit. If someone is on leave, they are on leave; work is covered. Without that, rest is performative at best.

The discussion became more interesting when it turned to those in more senior roles, such as partners and associate directors, who are directly accountable to clients. Expectations around availability operate differently at that level. The underlying assumption seems to be that if a client is accustomed to working with a particular individual, that individual must always remain in charge and on top of developments. This dynamic becomes especially pronounced during periods of leave.

There was no prescriptive guidance from the session. Instead, what emerged were stories. One participant reflected that, at partner level, the expectation of responsiveness never really switches off. Another shared that they try to set aside one hour each day while on holiday to stay on top of emails.

One point that resonated with many was how even a single email notification can pull you mentally back into the office.

These were not solutions so much as experiments. They reflected different ways people were trying to redraw the line between being responsible and being constantly available.

I did not leave with just one single answer, but with a clearer sense of the problem. More importantly, I left with a growing appreciation that any meaningful shift will likely come not from rules, but from how teams and leaders choose to define what “being responsible” means in practice.