There are hidden ways in which the work we do can take a toll on our well-being. The toll could be a biproduct of the client who comes into our office with a history of trauma they share during the planning process. It can happen in the way we anticipate highly emotional responses down the chain of beneficiaries. Or we might already be there, hearing from individuals highly dissatisfied with the outcome of an estate plan that feels both unwanted and unfair.
For lawyers, our exposure to client trauma can take many forms. Perhaps an estate planner learns of a mercurial relationship between family members then begins anticipating the fallout so common to a long family history of difficult communication patterns. Or, often a litigator will meet with a client in crisis looking for a resolution not easily forthcoming, requiring the client to relive the significant past trauma, and the attorney to absorb it, through the discovery process and trial.
Exposure to trauma goes beyond the litigation arena and touches many other areas of fiduciary work. For example, an estate planner may be asked to draft an estate plan to address a messy, difficult, or conflict-ridden family dynamic. And those who manage assets—whether in a trust, an estate, or an entity—often find themselves navigating a long-brewing family conflict about which they know little.
We anticipate and understand that our work can involve these difficult dynamics; we know what we signed up for. But that understanding does not mean we are untouched by that work. For professionals whose practices regularly involve dealing with people who have experienced trauma, repeated exposure to the trauma of others can carry its own emotional and psychological consequences, commonly referred to as secondary traumatic stress.
Unlike trauma arising from something that happens directly to an individual, secondary trauma can develop through sustained exposure to the traumatic experiences of others. For fiduciaries, that exposure may occur through conversations with clients or beneficiaries, but it may also occur indirectly—through forwarded messages, requests, outright disputes that require resolution, or indirect conflict that lingers. This type of exposure is a routine feature of many fiduciary practices, and its cumulative emotional toll can be significant.
Secondary trauma is not limited to any one area of practice. Planners or fiduciaries working with families may encounter allegations involving domestic violence, addiction, and fractured relationships. Fiduciaries representing children or vulnerable adults may repeatedly hear deeply distressing accounts. Trustees may find themselves in the middle of almost any conceivable type of family dysfunction or corporate dispute.
One challenge is that the consequences may not always be obvious. Lawyers and other professionals are accustomed to working under pressure, compartmentalizing unwanted emotion, and pushing through demanding periods without regard to the consequences attendant to doing so. Symptoms can be dismissed as ordinary stress or simply accepted as part of the job. Yet changes in concentration, patience, sleep, outlook, interpersonal relationships, or emotional responses may sometimes reflect something more than a stressful period or crush of work and deadlines.
Secondary trauma is distinct from related concepts such as compassion fatigue and burnout. Although those conditions can overlap, understanding the differences matters. Compassion fatigue is often referred to as “the cost of caring.” It results from our role as caretakers for our clients as they engage us to carry out their wishes. Burnout, conversely, may arise from any number of varied work conditions including, but not necessarily, secondary trauma and compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress more directly implicate the emotional cost of sustained engagement with other people’s challenges.
Secondary trauma can also intertwine with depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder. That connection is particularly important, because the consequences of secondary trauma are not solely personal. A person’s ability to concentrate, exercise judgment, communicate effectively, maintain appropriate professional boundaries, and respond constructively to clients and colleagues can all be affected by prolonged stress. Well-being therefore intersects directly with professional performance.
While it can be difficult to distinguish the effects of secondary trauma from other challenges, when a lawyer or fiduciary begins carrying a client’s trauma home—through intrusive thoughts, avoidance, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, irritability, or changes in behavior—it may be worth considering whether something more than ordinary occupational stress is occurring.
Individuals concerned with the effects or impacts of secondary trauma can implement some strategies to increase resilience and reduce the effects of repeated exposure to traumatic material. The objective is to help “shield the carer”—to recognize exposure to trauma as a potential occupational hazard and to build systems that allow professionals to continue doing difficult work without simply assuming suffering as part of the job.
Resilience does not mean becoming indifferent. Indeed, effective fiduciaries frequently rely on the opposite: listening carefully, earning trust, appreciating what a client has experienced, and remaining engaged enough to help solve problems. The challenge is learning how to maintain that engagement without allowing repeated exposure to overwhelm the lawyer’s own capacity to function.
All fiduciaries, regardless of their role, should recognize that the work we perform can affect us. Acknowledging that reality is not inconsistent with professionalism or resilience. On the contrary, developing the awareness and tools necessary to manage the emotional consequences of legal and fiduciary work can help professionals remain healthier, more effective, and better equipped to serve the people who depend upon them.
We both hope you will join us at our CLE presentation on October 22, 2026, to hear more on this topic from Sarah MacGillis, the Outreach Director for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. Sarah’s presentation will take a close look at secondary traumatic stress, the potential for harm, how we can recognize the condition and its manifestations before it accumulates, and how to use resiliency strategies to reduce the risk and effects of secondary trauma.
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