The price paid for being a manager in the specialist advice and legal aid sector. A personal view...
Over the years, in my work as a consultant and trainer (and as an occasional mentor and general sounding board), I’ve had the privilege of working closely with managers from right across the specialist advice and legal aid sector. Managers in Law centres, CAB, legal aid firms, and frontline services of all kinds. I’ve seen extraordinary commitment, creativity, resilience and compassion. But I’ve also seen the cost and toll that it extracts.
Time and again, I’ve seen managers quietly absorbing an enormous weight as they navigate underfunding, legal aid, organisational complexity, impossible demand, and the emotional impact of supporting people in crisis.
Many are expected to manage organisations and / or teams; drive strategy; and deliver frontline work, all at once. They rarely get the time or space to step back, think clearly, or plan ahead. They’re the ones holding it all together but often have little support themselves (even where they have good and well-meaning Boards).
I remember my own time managing a Law Centre where there were months when I got no sleep on the night of the 28th worried that I wouldn’t have enough money to pay staff on the 30th. I carried the constant fear that I would have to make staff redundant, knowing everything that would mean for them and their families. The impact is huge and it’s insidious and it’s often invisible.
What I’ve learned over the years is that this isn’t just about stress. It’s about accumulated stress, and sometimes trauma. Over time, it erodes wellbeing, undermines confidence, and limits people’s ability to reach their potential as leaders.
I’ve worked and am working with managers who feel isolated, stuck in firefighting mode, and unable to see a way forward. Some have internalised a sense of siege mentality and operate in constant fight or flight, unable even to see that they are really doing extraordinary work under near impossible conditions.
Of course this doesn’t just impact the individuals, but the organisations too. When managers are burnt out or running on empty, decision-making falters, staff morale dips, and organisational resilience weakens. That siege mentality I mention above might be understandable, but it often cuts people off from fresh ideas, peer support, and the opportunity to grow as leaders. People see the siege as the norm, and not as an abnormal harmful situation that they may need help with.
This is one of the reasons we set up the LAPG Management & Leadership Hub. It exists to provide the kind of dedicated support that I know, from years of experience, is desperately needed.
The Hub gives managers space to think, learn, connect, and share, away from the coalface. It helps people feel less alone. It builds skills. And it shows that leadership in this sector works best when you are being supported.
Tomorrow marks the end of this year’s Management & Leadership Programme. We’ve had 28 fantastic experienced and emerging sector leaders take part, and we know how much they have valued the support we’ve given them and, perhaps more importantly, the support they have given each other.
At the moment the Hub reaches just a fraction of those who could benefit. We aim to reach more. We always remind funders to recognise leadership support as essential infrastructure, not a luxury. We truly believe that investing in the wellbeing and development of managers is one of the most powerful things we can do to secure the future of specialist advice services.
And to managers reading this: reach out. Don’t wait for crisis point. Build connections, inside and outside the sector. Seek out spaces where you’re supported and challenged. You’re doing work that matters, and you deserve support that matches its value.
Matt Howgate (July 2025)