Survey reveals reveals escalating stress levels across corporate legal departments with the burden carried by legal leadership and those operating in high-demand sectors.
Washington, DC — December 15, 2025 — One in five in-house legal professionals rates their work-related stress as “High” or “Severe,” according to a new report released by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) titled, The State of Stress Among In-house Legal Professionals. Drawing on data from the 2025 Law Department Compensation Survey, the report reveals escalating stress levels across corporate legal departments with the burden carried by legal leadership and those operating in high-demand sectors.
The report analyzes responses from more than 1,600 US-based in-house lawyers and legal operations professionals, who were asked to assess their workplace stress using a five-point scale. A striking 66 percent reported moderate to severe stress.
Key findings include:
- Legal leadership carries the heaviest burden. Senior roles such as Chief Legal Officer and Associate General Counsel consistently reported the highest stress levels, with more than one-quarter rating their stress as “High.”
- Legal operations leaders experience sustained pressure. Vice Presidents and Directors of Legal Operations also showed elevated stress levels (22 percent), reflecting the increasing complexity and strategic demands placed on operational management functions.
- Individual contributors report comparatively lower stress. Attorneys and other non-management roles reported the lowest rates of high stress (12 percent), suggesting that distance from leadership responsibilities may reduce exposure to the most acute pressures.
- High stress levels amplify the risk of attrition. Among employees reporting high stress, 24 percent say they plan to leave their jobs within the next year — making stress an immediate and substantial threat to talent retention.
- Longer hours directly erode work-life balance and elevate stress. Professionals working 55+ hours per week are five times more likely to report high levels of stress than those working fewer than 45 hours per week.
“These findings underscore the growing intensity of the in-house legal function and highlight the urgent need for organizations to address workload, resourcing, and structural demands affecting their legal teams,” says Jason L. Brown, ACC President and Chief Executive Officer. “Today’s legal departments operate at the intersection of business risk, strategy, and compliance. When stress levels become unsustainable, the ripple effects extend well beyond the legal team — affecting the quality and speed of business decisions, increasing operational and compliance risks, weakening collaboration, and ultimately undermining the organization’s ability to retain critical talent. At ACC, we deeply value the candid insights our members share. Their feedback is essential to helping us identify emerging pressures and deliver the resources, guidance, and solutions that today’s in-house legal and legal operations professionals need to thrive.”
About ACC
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the premier global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations through information, education, networking, and advocacy. For more than 40 years, ACC has set the standard for in-house counsel and raised awareness regarding the value of the chief legal officer in the C-suite and boardroom. With nearly 50,000 members employed by over 12,000 organizations and spanning 100+ nations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel® remains the foundation for ACC’s market leadership. For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.