Employment lawyers explain why profession's hierarchy still fuels abuse and discourages reporting
03 Apr 2025
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The legal industry in Canada is beginning to reckon with workplace abuse, but progress has been slow, and significant cultural and structural challenges remain, employment lawyers say.
While no definitive data exists pointing to abuse’s pervasiveness in law, the situation is at least the same compared to other industries, says Elizabeth Bingham, an employment lawyer and workplace investigator at Rubin Thomlinson LLP.
“I think we can say anecdotally that it's at least as pervasive as bullying, harassment, and discrimination within workplaces in Canada in general. And there are reasons to suspect that it might be either more common or less reported within law firms than it is within other industries,” she says.
Bingham says the legal profession has never had a #MeToo moment of its own, adding that certain features of the profession act as barriers to progress.
“Law tends to be an insular and hierarchical profession, where you really depend on whom you know and your personal connections with people. It's hierarchical within law firms in terms of how people progress up the ranks.”
The underrepresentation of women and minorities within senior roles at law firms also contributes to the problem.
“All of these things working together present risk factors for bullying and harassment to happen and not to be reported,” Bingham says.
Despite this, she sees signs of...
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