‘Us too?’ shocks profession

Bullying and sexual harassment are rife in the legal profession, a major International Bar Association (IBA) report has revealed.

The report, Us Too? Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession, published this week, found that one in two women, and one in three men, working as lawyers has been affected by workplace bullying, and one in three women has been sexually harassed at work.

Horacio Bernardes Neto, IBA president, said: ‘It is deeply shameful that our profession, predicated on the highest ethical standards, is rife with such negative workplace behaviours.’

The IBA surveyed nearly 7,000 legal sector professionals from 135 countries for the report, making it the largest ever survey of its kind. More than 700 respondents were from the UK.

In the majority of cases—57% of bullying incidents and three-quarters of sexual harassment incidents—the perpetrator got away with it. The victims said they did not report because of the status of the perpetrator, fear of repercussions, and the behaviour being endemic.

The impact on victims of such behaviour is devastating: 65% of bullying targets and 37% of sexual harassment targets have left or are considering leaving their job.

Commenting on the findings, Law Society president Christina Blacklaws said sexual harassment or bullying in the legal sector would not be tolerated. ‘Solicitors have professional and ethical obligations that mean anyone found guilty of harassment is likely to face disciplinary action by the regulator as well as any civil or criminal proceedings.

‘A Women in Law Pledge—the result of widespread collaboration across the legal profession—will launch next month. It commits signatories to tackle sex discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment wherever it occurs in the workplace. It is incumbent on all of us to work to end bullying and harassment of any kind.’

The report urges lawyers to engage with younger members of the profession, who are disproportionately affected, to find ways to improve workplace culture. It advises exploring flexible reporting models, increasing training and dialogue, improving policies and standards, and for all lawyers, from senior to newly qualified graduates, to ‘take ownership of the problem’.

Sam Mercer, head of diversity and inclusion and CSR at the Bar Council, said: 'We have made clear that this behaviour is unacceptable, and are keen to see greater adoption of anti-bullying and harassment policies and uptake of training across the legal profession to address these issues.'

Richard Atkins QC, chair of the Bar and Amanda Pinto QC, vice-chair of the Bar, added: 'This is an extremely valuable report, which we encourage barristers and all in chambers to take the time to read.

'The report makes ten clear recommendations for action, all of which the Bar Council is already actively pursuing. This report however, is a reminder that we must all do more to tackle these wholly unacceptable behaviours. We continue to encourage members of the profession, particularly those in senior positions, to call out inappropriate behaviour. This report reminds us why this is so important.'