Lawyers provide a vital public service, helping to ensure that all of us can access justice and protect our interests when we need it. They are on the front line of resolving everyday legal issues so that we and our communities can thrive.
Like many frontline workers, the role of a lawyer is sadly not without risk. All too often they can find themselves being targeted with abuse, aggression and, in some cases, threats to their personal safety or livelihoods.
In August 2025, the Law Society of England and Wales surveyed solicitors on the risks and threats they have experienced in their day-to-day working lives. Following the summer riots of 2024 when 39 law firms and immigration advice organisations were specifically targeted, we wanted to test the current environment and identify if threats to solicitors are an ongoing concern requiring further intervention.
The survey results show that solicitors right across the legal profession have faced death threats, intimidation and physical violence just for doing their job.
Almost half (49%) of solicitors who responded said that either they or their firm received a threat in the past 12 months, with some experiencing multiple incidents. More than a third (38%) of respondents felt that there was a threat to their personal safety because of their chosen profession, while one in eight (13%) reported having considered leaving the profession because of the threats they faced.
The testimonies we received made for grim reading. A solicitor working in social welfare said: “I have been threatened to have my house set on fire, my family harmed and also told they hoped I got cancer and suffered an awful death,” while another lawyer told of a “threat to travel to our office and burn it down.”
A property solicitor faced a ”threat of physical violence by a client who waited in the firm car park” while a witness “jumped out of the witness box and across the front bench to try to attack” a solicitor in a childcare hearing.
The prevalence of these types of threats has meant that enhanced security measures are becoming a familiar sight in solicitors’ firms. Measures taken include installing panic buttons and thumb print scanners, and not being allowed to work alone or when there is no security present.
No one should have to deal with unacceptable behaviour simply because they are doing their job. However, the findings of this survey show that abuse, aggression and intimidation towards solicitors is alarmingly commonplace. The personal toll this takes is stark, with many reporting the impact of such hostility on their mental health and wellbeing.
The wider context of rising hostility towards lawyers should also provide a warning of where abuse and hostility can lead. The Law Society acted quickly to provide support and guidance for our members when immigration law firms and organisations became the targets of rioting during summer 2024. Many reported having to temporarily close their offices, remove public contact details and implement enhanced security measures to keep their staff and clients safe. This incident demonstrates how lawyers can often become the targets of misplaced political and social frustrations, which is reflected in the finding that abuse can often follow from high profile cases, national media coverage and public events.
The language and tone used in political rhetoric or media reporting can encourage this, highlighting how those with public platforms have a responsibility to use it sensibly. And we know that this is something that is faced not just by solicitors, but across the whole legal and judicial profession. That is why we joined forces with the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, the Bar of Northern Ireland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland, representing 250,000 lawyers, on a joint statement calling out attacks on the legal profession in October this year. Last month I spoke to BBC’s The Law Show about the law being under fire along with criminal barrister, Charlie Sherrard KC.
The increase in threats to solicitors in England and Wales is occurring in the context of rising threats to lawyers across Europe and beyond. In 2024, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) found over 57% of lawyers have been the victims of threatening behaviour or aggression at least once in the last two or three years.
Responding to rising threats, the Council of Europe adopted a new Convention for Protection of the Profession of Lawyer which has so far been signed by 23 states, including the UK. We are calling on the UK government to ratify the new convention.
We will continue to speak out against damaging rhetoric, to increase understanding of our members' crucial work benefitting society and the economy, and to strengthen the support we provide to solicitors under threat.
Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales