One third of solicitors are victims of violence or threats

The survey undertaken by the Law Society of Scotland, following an editorial in Scottish Legal News, of over 1,100 solicitors has revealed that around one in eight respondents (12 per cent) have experienced violence, a third (33 per cent) have experienced threatening conduct and over one in four (27 per cent) experienced threatening communications. Only a fifth (20 per cent) of physical attacks on solicitors were reported to the police.

The vast majority of incidents (90 per cent) took place within solicitors’ offices or in a court or tribunal environment. Clients or former clients of a solicitor, or of the opposing party’s solicitor, accounted for over 60 per cent of violent incidents.

The research, the first of its kind in Scotland, is part of the Law Society of Scotland Journal’s annual employment survey of solicitors. The results highlighted that criminal defence solicitors are most at risk, with almost half of those who responded reporting more than four incidents in the last five years. Prosecutors and family lawyers, who often deal with highly sensitive cases such as divorce and child custody, had also been targeted.

The responses showed that:

• Almost 40 per cent of criminal defence solicitors, 25 per cent of family lawyers and 19 per cent of prosecutors have been victims of violence;
• Around 70 per cent of criminal defence solicitors, 54 per cent of family lawyers and 61 per cent of prosecutors have been victims of threatening behaviour.

Alison Atack, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “I am extremely alarmed by the survey findings. People often turn to their solicitor for help and advice when they are going through very stressful and difficult times in their lives. It’s vital that solicitors, who have chosen a career in law because they want to help others, can feel safe and secure while carrying out their professional duties. 

“There should be no tolerance of any threat of violence towards legal professionals, or indeed anyone providing a service to members of the public, something that has been highlighted recently by the proposed Scottish Parliament bill to protect retail workers. We are also aware the Justice Secretary intends to introduce measures to strengthen the rights of victims and witnesses of crime. 

“We intend to take forward our initial recommendations, including working with other organisations in the legal sector, as a matter of urgency to try to minimise the risk of violence against people working in the legal sector.”

The survey findings have also indicated that solicitors’ colleagues, or those representing the opposite party, accounted for a minority of incidents, with approximately one in seven involving violence and a slightly higher proportion involving threats.  

Reporting of incidents was low, with women appearing to be less likely than men to make a report. Around 20 per cent of violent incidents were reported to the police while just 12.5 per cent of incidents of threatening behaviour and 14.5 per cent of threatening communications were reported.