Addressing bullying, harassment, and discrimination

Background

Addressing bullying, harassment and discrimination is one of the Law Society’s top priorities. 

At the Bencher retreat in May 2024, Benchers participated in a one-day conference dedicated to addressing discrimination, harassment, and bullying in the legal profession. They considered existing data on how prevalent this issue is in the legal profession, a summary of the Law Society's current actions to address the issue, and what additional or different actions the Law Society could take to remove barriers to reporting and facilitate alternative processes.

In November 2024, the Benchers unanimously approved the creation of a Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Task Force. The purpose of the task force is to explore how the Law Society can better address bullying, harassing, and discriminatory behaviour in the legal profession that is contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct for BC (BC Code).

The task force has been meeting regularly to examine whether potential approaches and initiatives are feasible or advisable to address bullying, harassment, and discrimination in the legal profession. This work is informed by evidence-based, intersectional research.

Initiatives

Symposium

On October 9, 2025, the Law Society held a full-day symposium to explore how bullying, discrimination and harassment in BC’s legal profession could be addressed. The symposium brought together approximately 45 participants, including members of Law Society committees, staff and a number of external speakers.

Key themes discussed during the symposium include:

• the connections between discrimination and harassment with broader questions of equity, inclusion, access to justice and public confidence; 
• existing challenges to reporting, from fears of career impacts to power imbalances between legal professionals and their clients; 
• the need for better supports for those impacted by bullying and harassment by legal professionals; and,
• the potential for less adversarial, alternative processes to address complaints or concerns related to bullying, harassment and discrimination. 

The Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Task Force was seen as uniquely positioned to help bring about systemic change and to set expectations for a more accountable regulatory framework. 

Finally, data collection of British Columbians was repeatedly highlighted as essential to understanding the scope of bullying, harassment, and discrimination and designing effective, proactive interventions.

Survey of the legal profession and the public

From October to December 2025, the Law Society conducted a survey to collect vital data on experiences of discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying within BC’s legal profession. We invited participation from the legal community, including legal professionals and individuals who work and interact with them in professional or work-related social contexts.

The goals of the survey were to: 

1. understand the prevalence of these issues in the province, 
2. explore barriers that make reporting difficult,
3. learn from what has and has not worked in reporting processes, and 
4. help identify measures that could more effectively address these issues.

Thank you to all of the participants who took the time to complete the survey. There were hundreds of respondents and staff are now compiling and analyzing the data. The responses are essential to informing the task force’s work in developing their recommendations. Findings will be published in 2026.

Report

The task force’s final recommendation report is expected to be delivered in the fall of 2026.