Donna-Marie McGrath, business and legal leadership strategist and ADHD performance specialist, explains how law firms can avoid losing their sharpest minds.

I spent nearly two decades working in law, including senior roles within FTSE 100 organisations. On paper, I was successful: commercially sharp, trusted by leadership, consistently high-performing.

Last year, I was diagnosed with ADHD.

Looking back, it explained far more than I expected: the exhaustion behind the competence, the relentless over-preparing, the fear of getting something wrong despite delivering strong results. I was not incapable. I was masking.

And many talented lawyers are doing the same.

Environment not ability

ADHD is still widely misunderstood in the legal profession. It is often reduced to distraction or inconsistency. In reality, many lawyers with ADHD are high achievers, bringing strategic insight, rapid problem-solving, creativity, emotional intelligence and big-picture thinking — exactly what firms say they value.

The issue is not ability.

It is environment.

Traditional legal culture rewards perfectionism, long hours and rigid process. For neurodivergent professionals, that can create sustained, invisible pressure.

ADHD often involves differences in time perception, task-switching and emotional regulation — including Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), an intensified response to perceived criticism or exclusion.

Traditional legal culture rewards perfectionism, long hours and rigid process. For neurodivergent professionals, that can create sustained, invisible pressure.

In high-performance environments, even neutral phrases — “I’ll get back to you later,” “Sorry I missed you,” silence after submitting work, offhand humour about mistakes – can be internally processed as failure. Not because someone is fragile but because their nervous system registers ambiguity more intensely.

Without awareness, this drives overcompensation. Lawyers work longer hours, triple-check everything, avoid visibility or withdraw. Outwardly diligent. Internally depleted.

Language matters. Leadership behaviour matters.

Creating a supportive environment is not about lowering standards. It is about designing conditions where high standards can be sustained.

And this cannot sit solely with HR or EDI. If firms are serious about retention and performance, partners and leaders must champion it.

From my experience in practice and now working with firms, the difference between burnout and high performance is rarely talent. It is leadership design.

Start with awareness

ADHD in high-performing lawyers rarely looks chaotic. It shows up as overwork, fluctuating energy or heightened response to feedback.

Without awareness, this is misread as inconsistency. With awareness, it becomes performance insight.

How well do you recognise this in your own team? And who may be navigating it without saying so?

Awareness is leadership responsibility.

Redesign structure — not expectations

Excellence does not require ambiguity. The ADHD brain thrives on clarity of outcomes, defined scope and regular alignment.

Clear parameters reduce cognitive load. Reduced cognitive load increases consistency.

Excellence does not require ambiguity. The ADHD brain thrives on clarity of outcomes, defined scope and regular alignment.

So, agree what “good” looks like, break large complex work into small chunks, and schedule regular check-ins.

Design high-trust performance conversations

ADHD professionals perform best when leaders ask open questions about the person, not just the task.

“How are you managing this?”

“What are your thoughts?”

“What would help?”

When they can clarify expectations and raise challenges without reputational threat, creativity sharpens and problem-solving improves. That is not soft leadership — it is performance design.

Address burnout before it becomes visible

Too often, performance conversations focus on hours: “Have you hit your target?”

But if someone is taking significantly longer on a task, the more strategic question is, “What’s making this harder than it needs to be?”

High-performing ADHD lawyers rarely struggle through lack of effort. More often, they are navigating perfectionism, unclear briefs or fear of misjudging expectations.

Leadership here is not interrogation — it is curiosity.

When leaders manage clarity, cognitive load and confidence — not just billable hours — they prevent quiet burnout and retain sustainable excellence.

Instead of: “Why is this taking so long?”

Ask: “Talk me through how you’re approaching this,” and, “What do you need from me to move this forward?”

Two questions. Significant impact.

They shift pressure into partnership. They signal that raising a challenge strengthens credibility rather than weakens it.

That is psychological safety in action, and it benefits everyone, not just neurodivergent professionals.

When leaders manage clarity, cognitive load and confidence — not just billable hours — they prevent quiet burnout and retain sustainable excellence.

Recognise strengths deliberately

ADHD is associated with rapid pattern recognition, entrepreneurial thinking, emotional acuity and the ability to synthesise complexity quickly. These are strategic assets.

When firms intentionally channel these strengths into innovation, client growth and cross-functional work, they gain measurable commercial advantage.

This is not simply an inclusion issue.

It is a performance, retention and competitive positioning issue.

I now work with lawyers and firms to embed strategic frameworks that allow ADHD professionals to thrive: strengthening performance, reducing risk, and preventing the loss of exceptional talent remaining unseen.

ADHD is associated with rapid pattern recognition, entrepreneurial thinking, emotional acuity and the ability to synthesise complexity quickly.

That means practical leadership awareness, structured performance design and coaching that turns difference into capability.

When firms get this right, the shift is tangible.

Energy becomes focused rather than fragmented.

Creativity becomes directed rather than suppressed.

Confidence replaces chronic overcompensation.

The legal profession does not lack talent.

It sometimes lacks the structure — and the leadership ownership — to unlock it.

Firms that evolve will not only retain exceptional lawyers. They will build cultures where difference drives sharper thinking, resilience and long-term commercial strength.

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