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NLJ this week: Time’s up for bullying & harassment

09 July 2020
Issue: 7894 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Discrimination
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It’s time for structural change to resolve bullying and harassment in the legal profession, consulting barrister Kevin Charles, of Crossland Employment Solicitors, writes in this week’s NLJ

It’s time for structural change to resolve bullying and harassment in the legal profession, consulting barrister Kevin Charles, of Crossland Employment Solicitors, writes in this week’s NLJ

The barrister reflects on his own experience of rigid hierarchies and etiquette in chambers during pupillage: ‘Our position with the pecking order was reinforced and made perfectly clear―we were firmly at the bottom, and those in senior positions, who were feted, lionised and seemingly untouchable, held our legal careers in their hands.’ Therefore, who would or could ‘rock the boat’ by speaking out about sexual harassment or bullying?

Charles writes that not much has changed in the intervening 20 years with the number of sexual misconduct reports increasing dramatically in the last five years—a statistic he finds  unsurprising given the combination of power imbalance, a male-dominated hierarchy and the prevailing culture of silence.

However, steps are being taken to reverse the number of detrimental and harmful behaviours within the legal sphere. The Bar Council is one such advocate, creating the anonymous support app Talk To Spot, which encourages the confidential reporting of inappropriate behaviour, including bullying, harassment and discrimination at work.

Charles’s conclusion, however, is that structural change is required ‘so that the male-dominated hierarchical stronghold is dismantled’. In the meantime, he urges senior male lawyers to speak up when female colleagues are being harassed.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
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Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
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