London: Major firm hits out at non-urgent weekend emails

Segun Osuntokun, appointed last year as global senior partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), a firm of over 1,275 lawyers across 31 offices, told The Telegraph that he schedules emails to be sent during normal working hours.

He said: “I know that if I send an email to a team member on a weekend and I’m not expecting them to do anything about it, they won’t know that. I know that their weekend is going to be impacted severely.”

Mr Osuntokun, who was previously the firm’s UK managing partner, said junior lawyers’ welfare – highlighted by the tragic case of Vanessa Ford, who died following a mental health crisis – was increasingly important for staff retention.

He added: “Every major law firm is in the business of making a profit. But for me, it’s just as much about how you make that profit as about as much profit as you make.”

The UK government is expected to shortly bring forward new proposals on the introduction of a ‘right to disconnect’ for employees.

Ireland introduced a code of practice on the ‘right to disconnect’ in 2021, though fell short of introducing new legislation.