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Pamela DeNeuve

Lawyer & Law Firm Peak Performance Strategist

Attorneys: 6 Signs You Are A Workplace Bully

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What is a Bully?

“The legal profession provides fertile ground for bullying,” says Julie I. Fershtman, a trial lawyer with Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith PC in Detroit. Indeed, in a study published in Lawyers Weekly Australia, half of the women lawyers and one-third of men lawyers surveyed reported they have encountered bullying in the workplace.

Covert and hidden bullying are more commonplace in a law firm. The intimidation might be more subtle like coercion; silent or implied using verbal and non-verbal forms of intimidation. Many individuals who experience bullying in a law firm blame themselves. They may feel that they deserve to be dominated, criticized or figuratively pushed around.

Law Firms And Bullying

Law firms can easily become a breeding ground for bullies. Just consider the chain of command in the firm because there are hierarchies. Here are a few: Managing Partner, Partners, Chairs, Section Chiefs, Section Heads, Senior Associates and Associates, Directors, Law Clerks, Paralegals, Secretaries to name a few.

This chain of command can set up a trend of how individuals further down the chain are treated. Whether or not the superiors use bullying tactics as a management tool can affect how the rest of the firm is managed.   Upper management style often influences everyone. If management is condescending or dominating in their supervisory style, then chances are the supervisors will be even more contemptuous.

9 Signs You Are Being Bullied

Here are things you want to look for if you indeed feel like you are bullied.

  1.  Feeling beaten up, uneasy, belittled or even stupid after an encounter.
  2. Repetition (It occurs regularly)
  3. Duration (It can be enduring)
  4. Escalation (increasing in aggression)
  5. Power disparity (targets lack the power to successfully defend themselves)
  6. Attributed intent (to humiliate or demean)
  7. Target feels intimidated
  8. Communication feels overbearing
  9. Communication delivery feels patronizing

 Are You in a Law Firm Where You Are Bullied?

What exactly is Bullying?   Let’s describe the act. Bullying is dominating aggressively, coercing, and intimidating others. A bully habitually or repeatedly uses his or her position, power or knowledge to push others around or down either physically or mentally. It is an imbalance of social or physical power, which distinguishes bullying from conflict.

Individuals who bully need to feel powerful. This behavior is not unusual in our society when we consider the epidemic of bullying in our school system where over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Here are a few statistics about bullying in the workplace.

 8 Facts About the Prevalence of Bullying  in the Workplace:

  1. 27% have current or past direct experience with abusive conduct at work
  2. 72% of the American public are aware of workplace bullying
  3. Bosses are still the majority of bullies
  4. A 2010 Zogby survey found that 53.5 million Americans said they had experienced workplace bullying
  5. 23 million more reported witnessing it.
  6. 72% of employers deny, discount, encourage, rationalize or even defend it
  7.  In the UK independent research suggests that bullying is happening to around 1 in 4 people
  8.  Another UK research statistic places bullying at 3-14 million employees.

6 Signs You A Workplace Bully:

  1. You Shout and swear or are verbally abusive to someone more junior
  2. You single out an individual or individuals for unjustified criticism or blame
  3. You exclude employee(s) from company activities or having his or her work or contributions purposefully ignored
  4. You use language or actions that will embarrass or humiliate
  5. You repeatedly make practical jokes, to make fun of the same individual or individuals
  6. You deny an employee the resources, access or information needed to get their job done

Break the Habit of Being a Bully, or Habitually Being Bullied

Many bullies come from a background in which bullying was the accepted manner of communication.  Be alert to your tone, body language and notice what you are saying.  Do you belittle or criticize?  Do you ignore or punish?  Bullying can be aggressive or passive aggressive. Ignoring an employee as punishment can be just as demeaning as scolding or yelling at them.

A bully can be male or female and a colleague of equal or lesser status in the firm or a person in authority. Make no mistake about it bullying is all about POWER. If the bullies were honest when they aggressively dominate others, they could consider it a sport, and they experience glee during the act or the encounter of domination.

On the other hand others may be drawn to being victimized without really realizing it.  They may exhibit body language that subconsciously invites bullies. If you find you are bullied no matter where you go, at home or work or even in relationships, it is time to get help to stop this damaging cycle.

If you are prone to be a bully or you find yourself always being bullied, it is time for you to get support to end this destructive habit.

Pamela DeNeuve

Attorney – Coach for Increased Profits

★I Help Law Firms Increase Profits By Retaining Their Associates ★

Now accepting informal requests for weekly 35-minute informational calls 

email me directly:  pamela@pameladeneuve.com or call 904-607-1211

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