By Emma Cueto | June 11th, 2025
Los Angeles-based firm Raines Feldman Littrell LLP has spent years using a number of strategies to build a more supportive culture and combat burnout, from giving attorneys greater control over their hours to events like meditation and stress management workshops.
At the heart of those efforts, the firm told Law360 Pulse, is trying to build connection and create a workplace where people support one another.
“People will say to us they’ve never been in a place where they feel happier or more fulfilled,” founder Andrew Raines told Law360 Pulse. “That’s not at the sacrifice of money — we’re very successful, but the success doesn’t come from focusing on the end result; the success comes from focusing on the people.”
Experts said the firm’s multifaceted approaches could be effective in combination at improving attorney mental health and well-being. Raines Feldman considers them an important factor in its success, including in increasing its headcount in recent years.
Raines Feldman was founded in 2006 and has since grown to 100 attorneys, with a sizable percentage of that growth coming in the past two years. In spring 2023, Raines Feldman had 75 attorneys listed on its website.
Raines told Law360 that he thinks culture plays a big role in the firm’s retention and recruitment.
Some of the firm’s work on culture involves programs run by its service committee, which oversees mentorship and diversity, equity and inclusion.
This includes things like optional Wednesday yoga classes, workshops on stress, regular firm potlucks and other events meant to boost attorney well being or promote community and connection.
Another important component, however, is the firm’s approach to hours and work-life balance. Raines is candid about the workload, saying that attorneys at the firm do work a lot of hours, something that is true for most law firms and that experts say is a major contributor to attorney stress and poor mental health. However, Raines said, the firm encourages lawyers, including associates, to be proactive in managing their schedules and gives people a lot of autonomy in how they structure their time.
“A lot of lawyers, especially new lawyers, can look at … the work that needs to be done, the time it will take, and structure it within their day,” Raines said. “The amount of control you have over your job is key.”
The firm also puts a lot of emphasis on communication and caring about co workers, with managers expected to lead by example.
“When people are in our firm, we want them to feel supported and safe, like they’re part of a team, part of something bigger,” Raines said. “I think many lawyers don’t have a sense of connection. They feel on their own, not supported.”
It’s an approach that experts say could be a successful one for firms. Heidi Alexander, executive director of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court‘s standing committee on lawyer well-being, said there is no “silver bullet” when it comes to fighting burnout.
For instance, she said, workshops and yoga classes can be very helpful for individual attorneys, but often the attorneys who might benefit the most from them don’t feel they can take the time to attend. On the other hand, more flexible hours can be very helpful for attorneys, especially parents and those
with other caregiving responsibilities, she said.
Patrick Krill, a lawyer and certified counselor who has conducted significant research into attorney mental health, said that the strategies Raines Feldman outlined are most likely to be effective in combination.
“For many firms, the approach so far has been resource provision: access to counseling, yoga, education on mental health,” he said. “But that’s all. ‘We’re not going to do anything to modify our work or norms, just provide you with resources.'”
“We need to move to a risk factor mitigation phase, beyond just providing resources, and look at organization and culture — mitigate the causes of stress and burnout,” he said.
Fostering a more open, supportive culture where people have more control over their hours and feel more connected to their co-workers is something more along those lines, he said, and will likely make other resources more effective. Fostering a sense of connection among co-workers could also help with loneliness, which is also a big problem in the legal profession, he added.
Alexander noted that for midsize firms like Raines Feldman, the problem of attorney mental health and well-being can often get lost because firms just have fewer resources to devote to it. However, fostering a more open and
supportive culture can also make a midsize firm more attractive, including to people looking to leave BigLaw, as some Raines Feldman partners have.
For Chicago-based partner and litigation co-chair Seth Darmstadter, who joined Raines Feldman from Michelman & Robinson LLP in July 2024, the firm’s culture was a big draw. Overall, he said the defining characteristic is “a focus on we and us versus I and me.” The focus from all levels of the firm is on supporting the group.
“Expectations are high for quality and performance,” he said, “but we want people to be able to have hobbies and a life and families and be part of their children’s lives and their spouses’ lives. And what we’ve learned over time is the outcomes clients get are better when people are comfortable in their skin.”
Joseph LaPlaca, an associate who also joined the firm’s Chicago office last year, said that in his experience, leaders did indeed have an open door policy and were willing and available to help associates. “I think that helps when it comes to thinking about burnout, because you know someone is pulling on the same rope with you at all times,” he said. “There’s a team aspect to it.”
Raines said the firm’s culture is something that is key to its recruiting efforts.
“Do you want to come in every day and see the people you work with?” he said. “That’s a fundamental question people sometimes forget to ask.”
–Editing by Robert Rudinger.