Half of lawyers victims of aggression or threats

Half of the lawyers had to deal with aggression, intimidation or threats in the past year. In most cases this comes from our own clients. One in five lawyers who are victims of aggression are considering quitting their job. This is apparent from a study commissioned by the Dutch Bar Association (Nova) that will be published on Tuesday.

More than a thousand lawyers were questioned, according to the researchers they are a representative reflection of the more than 18,000 lawyers. Nova board member Jeroen Soeteman states that the order is “shocked, but not surprised”. “We have noticed for a long time that there seems to be an increase in aggression against lawyers.” The survey is the first to map out the size and will be repeated every two years.

In 2019, Derk Wiersum, lawyer of the crown witness Nabil B. was murdered. Shortly afterwards, an assassination attempt was made on curator Philippe Schol. Several law firms were also fired upon. According to Soeteman, due to an acute threat, at least two lawyers weekly call the emergency telephone that the order was created in 2019 after the murder of Wiersum.

The research shows that trustees in bankruptcy and criminal defense lawyers have the most to do with aggression. Lawyers active in family law also often suffer from aggression, intimidation and threats. The own or former client is the most common source of aggression with 50 percent, followed by the counterparty and family members and acquaintances of the client or counterparty.

Also read: Endangered lawyers receive resilience training: ‘Once a month I’m screwed‘

According to Soeteman, bankruptcy trustees, criminal law and family lawyers are most often confronted with aggression because they are active in areas of law that have a profound impact on people’s lives. It often concerns legal issues in which their company, freedom or, for example, contact with the children are at stake.

Of the lawyers surveyed, 41 percent had experienced verbal aggression last year, 34 percent with intimidation, 18 percent with threats and 4 percent with physical violence. This includes cases where there is a threat to visit the lawyer at home or where clients beat themselves up after bad news. Four in ten lawyers experienced multiple incidents.

Only 5% of the incidents were reported. The low percentage is mainly due to the fact that they do not consider the incidents serious enough or that this is part of the job. “This is not a good way of thinking and it is risky,” says Soeteman.

Half of the respondents say that the Bar Association did not make them sufficiently resilient to aggression. Soeteman points out that the bar association has been offering resilience training since last year. There, lawyers learn to set limits and receive practical tips. The bar also strives to introduce resilience into the training curriculum of novice lawyers and security scans are offered, in which a specialized company examines a law firm on how it can be made more secure.