Beyond Us Too? Regulatory Responses to Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession and A Global Directory of Anti-Discrimination Rules Within the Legal Profession: Main Findings build on the IBA’s landmark 2019 report, Us Too? highlight the prevalence of unacceptable workplace behaviour within the profession.

For the former, 70 organisations were surveyed to gain an understanding of the bodies’ approaches to bullying and sexual harassment in the profession – something that IBA president and chairman and senior partner at law firm Scanlen and Holderness Sternford Moyo said was part of an ongoing commitment.

“Achieving and maintaining a safe, supportive and healthy professional environment, free from inappropriate behaviour, is an ongoing undertaking. Collaboration is key to achieving positive, genuine change in this regard,” he said.

“These reports underscore the IBA’s enduring commitment to addressing bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination, which have no place in our noble profession.”

Of the respondents, 70 per cent have the authority to address sexual harassment – yet only 58 per cent had taken disciplinary action in relation to sexual harassment, while 47 per cent had taken disciplinary action for bullying.

Additionally, a majority viewed sexual harassment as a top priority, with the median priority ranking for sexual harassment at seven, on a scale of one to 10. However, 80 per cent of respondents had received fewer than 20 reports of sexual harassment within the 12 months prior to the survey.

While almost half of the respondent regulatory bodies had a dedicated strategy for addressing bullying and sexual harassment, only a quarter had undertaken data gathering on inappropriate behaviour within their jurisdiction, making the report a timely resource, as noted by Victorian legal services commissioner Fiona McLeay in the report’s foreword.

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“This report is a timely and important resource. It offers useful insights and lessons for regulators who may be considering whether – and if so, how best – to intervene to address problems of harassment and bullying within their own professions,” she said.

“It makes it clear that, although achieving lasting and positive change in this area is challenging, with long-term commitment, creativity and innovation, it is certainly achievable.”

Kieran Pender, lead author of Beyond Us Too? and a consultant with the IBA’s legal policy and research unit (LPRU), said that the report allows those in the legal profession to learn from one another.

“Regulators across the globe are grappling with how to address inappropriate behaviour within the law,” he said.

“Our aim was to allow regulators to learn from each other, by sharing insight among peers and offering guidance to inform the evolution of regulatory and disciplinary approaches to bullying and sexual harassment.”

The A Global Directory of Anti-Discrimination Rules Within the Legal Profession: Main Findings report is focused on the issue of discrimination within the legal profession and provides an overview of data contained in a separate directory of what – if any – express rules and regulations have been adopted in relation to discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, disability or any other characteristic by some 238 bar associations, law societies, and other professional bodies representing 156 countries.

According to the report, bars and regulators in only 18 per cent of countries globally deal with discrimination as a specific issue in their codes, rules or regulations. Most – though not all – of the state jurisdictions of Australia, Canada and the United States have express wording in their rules and codes, with all the regulatory bodies within the United Kingdom and Ireland taking a similar approach.

As noted in the Main Findings report, whilst it is “not intended as a commentary on the wisdom of the regulatory initiatives undertaken, or not undertaken, to introduce specific anti-discrimination rules into lawyers’ codes of conduct around the world”, “the pressure on the legal profession to conform and adapt to ever-evolving concepts of social justice and sustainability is only likely to increase in coming years”.                                                     

BIC regulation committee chair Ellyn Rosen said the report should be used as a “living resource” for the legal profession to address these issues.

“We hope that this report will assist our members, and beyond, in their efforts to address discrimination by providing them with a living resource about the different approaches taken to this issue around the world, while also inspiring those who are just beginning their work in this area,” she said.

“Ultimately, our work is about helping to build a profession fit for the future, and fair for all.”