There is no legal definition of bullying. However, bullying is generally regarded as persistent offensive, intimidating or humiliating behaviour, which attempts to undermine an individual or group of individuals.

The Equality Act 2010 defines harassment as unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic that has the effect of creating an ‘intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’ for the person being harassed or that violates their dignity.

It does not matter whether the harassment is intentional or not. What matters is that the person being harassed interprets the comments or behaviour as offensive, demeaning, disrespectful or unacceptable.

It is important to remember that there is no such thing as a stereotypical bully, or a stereotypical person who is bullied or harassed. Bullying and harassment can happen to anyone, at any stage of their career.

Bullying and harassment does not only involve a person in a position of power or seniority bullying someone less senior to them. If you are a manager or senior colleague, you could be bullied or harassed by someone you manage or who is in a junior role to you. Costs Lawyers could also be bullied or harassed by their clients, other legal professionals or third parties.

Bullying and harassment can take many forms. It can be, for example, physical, verbal, emotional or financial. It can take place in person, online, in virtual meetings, on the phone, in writing, on social media and in other situations. Bullying and harassment can be an isolated, one-off incident, or a pattern of behaviour that occurs over a longer period of time.

Bullying and harassment can happen in the workplace or in other work-related situations, such as social events, client events, external meetings, conferences, in court, while travelling for work and other business contexts.

Bullying and harassing behavior can include, but is not limited to:

• shouting, threats and other abusive behaviour
• making offensive, demeaning or intimidating comments
• persistently and unjustifiably critcising someone’s work
• persistently undermining someone’s authority
• deliberately and unjustifiably excluding someone from meetings or events
• pressurising someone to act unethically

Principle 6 of the Code of Conduct requires Costs Lawyers to treat everyone fairly and equitably, and with dignity and respect. This includes clients, colleagues and other third parties.

As well as considering their own conduct, a Costs Lawyer should encourage any business of which they are a part to:

• commit to the promotion of equality and diversity and comply with legislative requirements.
• have a written bullying and harassment policy which is appropriate to the size and nature of the firm, and which includes details of how complaints and disciplinary issues in relation to bullying and harassment will be dealt with.
• provide employees and managers with appropriate training and information about bullying and harassment.

You must not engage in or facilitate counter-inclusive conduct or harassment which, intentionally or unintentionally, narrows or denies opportunities to people because of their background or characteristics (Principle 6 of the Code of Conduct). This duty includes taking action where you witness bullying and harassment taking place (see What to do if you witness another person being bullied or harassed below).

Costs Lawyers who are employers are expected to have – and adhere to – a written policy that prevents discrimination and harassment. Costs Lawyers who are employers are also expected to investigate any allegation of discrimination, victimisation or harassment and take disciplinary action where appropriate. These obligations are reflected in Principle 6.3 of the Code of Conduct.

The CLSB does not regulate entities and therefore, other than the above, we cannot prescribe how firms that employ Costs Lawyers should handle bullying and harassment. However, we would expect organisations that employ Costs Lawyers to:

• Take allegations of bullying or harassment seriously, and investigate such allegations in a serious and sensitive manner.
• Proactively ensure that all staff understand how to recognise and deal with bullying and harassment.
• Develop a clear, consistent and accessible policy on bullying and harassment. This should include how to report bullying and harassment, who will handle complaints and the procedure that will be followed where an allegation is made. All complaints and investigations should be treated confidentially.
• Provide training and support resources for staff. This could include training on recognising bullying and harassment, active bystander training to equip staff to challenge inappropriate behaviour, and ensuring staff are aware of support services such as LawCare.

In this situation, you should check your employer’s policies on how to deal with bullying and harassment. These policies should set out what steps you can take, and who to speak to for help. You may feel worried about the impact of making a report, however, doing nothing risks the bully being able to continue harming you and others.

You should keep a log of the bullying or harassing behaviour, including the times and dates of each occurrence. You can use online tools to record incidents, or keep a log on your phone or in a document on your computer.

You should also consider whether you need to make a report to the relevant regulator – for example, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board, CILEx Regulation or another approved regulator. Whilst notifying a regulator of your concerns may feel daunting, it is important to remember that not raising concerns with the relevant body at an early stage risks further harm being caused to you and others. For more information, see Reporting ethical issues.

Complaints about a Costs Lawyer’s professional conduct can be made directly to the CLSB. Costs Lawyers whose conduct falls below the expected standard in the Code of Conduct may find themselves subject to disciplinary sanctions by the CLSB.

Dealing with bullying or harassment by a client can be a particularly challenging situation. Costs matters can be highly emotional and stressful for clients, which can lead some individuals to act poorly, angrily or aggressively towards their advisors. However, that does not mean that it is acceptable for a client to act in a way that amounts to bullying or harassment.

In this situation, you should check your employer’s policies on how to deal with bullying and harassment. These policies should set out what steps you can take and who to speak to for help. You should always report the client’s behaviour through the appropriate internal channels so that it can be dealt with.

You should keep a log of the bullying or harassing behaviour by the client, including the times and dates of each occurrence. You can use online tools to record incidents, or keep a log on your phone or in a document on your computer.

Despite the fact that your client’s behaviour may be upsetting or aggravating, you should endeavour to remain calm and professional at all times. This is because you have a duty to act with integrity and to treat your clients with dignity and respect. Although it may be tempting to react in kind where a client is treating you in a way that is unacceptable, doing so risks breaching your own obligations under the Code of Conduct.

It is possible that your client does not realise the impact their behaviour is having on your or your colleagues. If you feel able to, you could try to explain to the client how their behaviour is coming across to you and ask them to change it. If this is not possible – or if your client refuses to adjust their behaviour after you or your firm have tried to address it with them – you should consider whether you wish to continue acting for them in the matter.

If your firm refuses to cease acting for the client, you could ask to be taken off the matter so that you no longer have to engage with the client yourself.

If you need to stop acting, you should take steps to do so in a way that promotes the best interests of your client, as required by Principle 3 of the Code of Conduct. Try to minimise the impact on your client to the extent possible, for example by ceasing to act at a stage of the matter that will allow them to seek another adviser with a minimum of cost and urgency. You should also inform your client of why you need to stop acting and what their options are, including changing their behaviour. You should put this information in writing so that everyone understands the position, and so you have a record of the reasons why you ceased acting if the client chooses to make a complaint.

If you need further advice about balancing your regulatory duties to your client against protecting your own wellbeing, you can contact us.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) handles complaints about the individual conduct of judicial office holders. The JCIO can investigate any action that amounts to misconduct, including bullying and harassment, using offensive language, loss of temper and other counter-inclusive behaviour. A complaint must be made within three months of the matter complained of, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Further information can be found on the JCIO website.