The legal industry appears to have a significant workplace bullying problem. That’s according to a 2024 Illinois study by Stephanie A. Scharf and Roberta D. Liebenberg, “Bullying in the Legal Profession: A Study of Illinois Lawyers’ Experiences and Recommendations for Change” (Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism Oct. 2024).
The Illinois study, apparently the first of its kind, found that nearly a quarter of the 6,000 Illinois lawyers surveyed experienced workplace bullying during a one-year period. The rates of bullying were highest among attorneys ages 25 to 35, female attorneys, and attorneys with disabilities. Thirty-nine percent of attorneys ages 25 to 35 reported having experienced bullying compared to 12% of attorneys age 66 to 75. Thirty-eight percent of female attorneys said they experienced bullying, compared to 15% of male lawyers, while 38% of attorneys with disabilities said they experienced bullying, compared to 23% of lawyers without a disability.
In addition, 36% of Middle Eastern/North African lawyers, 35% of Black/African American lawyers, 34% of Hispanic lawyers, 32% of multiracial lawyers, and 28% of Asian American lawyers—compared to 23% of white lawyers—reported being bullied. Twenty-nine percent of gay, lesbian, or bisexual lawyers reported verbal bullying related to their sexual orientation, while 3% of heterosexual lawyers reported verbal bullying related to their sexual orientation. (Illinois study at pages 10, 54.)
Bullying in the legal workplace can have severe consequences. Victims reported a negative change in emotional well-being (54%), feeling less productive (39%), and declines in physical health (20%), among other effects. Plus, 18% of all the surveyed lawyers reported that at some point in their career they had left a job practicing law because of workplace bullying. (Illinois study at pages 52–53.)
Bullying in the legal workplace that is discriminatory may raise professional discipline issues. Under American Bar Association Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 (“Misconduct”): “It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to: … (g) engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law.”
However, it appears that few attorney discipline cases involve workplace bullying. For example, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Annual Report for 2024 (at page 61), in describing the types of misconduct alleged in the 46 complaints filed before its Hearing Board in 2024, appears to indicate that there were no complaints involving workplace discrimination or bullying. Of course, there also may be extensive workplace bullying that is not discriminatory within the sense of Model Rule 8.4.
One possible reason for the absence of lawyer disciplinary cases is the very low rate of any form of reporting of workplace bullying in the legal industry. The Illinois study (at page 40) states that only 2% of those who were bullied filed a legal action or reported the bullying to a legal authority. Only 20% reported the bullying to a supervisor, upper-level attorney, or human resources manager. The low rates of reporting may reflect that employers’ responses to bullying often are unhelpful or worse; the victims’ fears of adverse consequences; and social/workplace norms that discourage reporting and encourage “toughing it out.” (Illinois study at pages 41–48, 55–56, 58.)
The Illinois study makes several recommendations to address workplace bullying, understandably focusing mainly on actions to be taken in the workplace itself. None of the recommendations focuses on professional discipline or action by judges, except in the context of bullying in the courtroom or in litigation, where the bully may be a judge, opponent, or other third party, as well as a colleague. (Illinois study at pages 61–70.)
Still, at least in the case of discriminatory bullying in the legal workplace, a complaint to attorney disciplinary authorities may be an available option.