Newly minted partners offered up some usual complaints on this year’s New Partners Survey, lamenting unexpectedly low compensation, opaque performance metrics and copious administrative work. But new anxieties have arisen among Big Law’s latest partner class, including the threat of a recession and growing concerns about mental health.

For the first time, our survey , done in conjunction with ALM Intelligence, included two questions focused on mental health. Many survey respondents—lawyers who made partner between 2016 and 2019—reported feeling burnt out. When asked how mental health can be improved in the legal profession, several new partners took aim at the billable hour.