In 2024 we surveyed 409 supervising lawyers on their experience supervising early career lawyers. This was informed by the results of our 2023 survey where equally interesting insights were offered by early career lawyers about supervised legal practice. 

In the absence of contemporary data about what the supervision experience is like, through these surveys, we sought to better understand what works, what doesn’t, and what might improve the experiences for early career lawyers and their supervisors.  

It was encouraging to see that most supervisors agreed their supervisees improved their legal skills (97%) and grew in confidence (96%) under their supervision. The majority of supervisors also said supervising benefitted themselves in some way, with many enjoying helping their supervisee realise their own talent.  

The survey also revealed challenges. Six in 10 respondents (60%) had to work longer hours to complete their own work, and 31% experienced increased stress due to their supervisory duties. Only 47% agreed their workplaces provided resources (e.g. guidance, templates) to support supervision, despite 91% believing that their workplaces see the value in supervision. 

Now, with insights received from both surveys, we will develop practical resources and guidelines in the coming months to support and guide effective supervision relationships and processes. 

Thank you to all lawyers who took the time to share their experiences with us.  

We look forward to providing resources to the profession to better support the critical and valuable role of supervision for early career lawyers and their supervisors.