Crushed

AuthorJordan Furlong
DateDecember 06, 2018

In Britain earlier this fall, three solicitors lost their careers. The High Court of England & Wales, overturning a decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, ruled that the three lawyers, who had each committed acts of dishonesty, should be struck off (disbarred) in order to maintain public confidence in the justice system.

The SDT had previously found that although the solicitors had acted dishonestly, “exceptional circumstances” warranted replacing the usual order of disbarment with a suspended suspension with conditions of their practising certificates. These circumstances involved “unbearable pressure” placed on the lawyers by their firms and workplaces. Some examples from each case:

  • The work was complex and often on very tight deadlines” … “He had worked extremely long hours, often nights and weekends” … “His department was an unforgiving place with high standards”… “He was afraid to reveal his stress, lest the firm perceive this as weakness” … “One of his supervisors was like an abusive husband, always asking for forgiveness and saying it would be different.”
  • She felt frightened and under tremendous pressure not to say or do anything. She feared being the cause of considerable stress.” … “[Her supervisor] had used her illness and long-standing relationship to place enormous emotional pressure on the respondent.”
  • [The managing partner gave her] 19 days to record 137 hours. The letter said: ‘Please therefore by return of email let me know your plans on how you are going to resolve that deficit before the deadline. I am assuming that you will be working each and every weekend and long hours during the week to ensure that the required target is reached.”

The High Court rejected the tribunal’s lesser punishments. “Pressure of work or of working conditions cannot ever justify dishonesty by a solicitor,” wrote the Court. Revealingly, the judgment stated that a toxic legal workplace was not an “exceptional circumstance”:

Whilst in no sense belittling the stress and depression from which the respondents suffered, it was in no sense exceptional. It is sadly only too common for professionals to suffer such conditions because of pressure of work or the workplace or other, personal, circumstances. … The pressure on the respondent was caused in large part by a culture in the firm which was toxic and uncaring.

In Los Angeles earlier this fall, a lawyer lost his life by his own hand. In a widely read open letter, the widow of Sidley Austin partner...

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