The State Bar Association of North Dakota Fall 2015 Gavel Magazine | Page 9

INSIDE THE PRACTICE OF LAW

RESULTS OF THE 2014
SURVEY OF VIOLENCE
BY
STEPHEN
KELSON

Stephen Kelson is an attorney
and mediator at the law firm of
Christensen & Jensen, P.C. in Salt
Lake City, Utah, where his practice
focuses on civil and commercial
litigation. Kelson has published
numerous articles on topics related
to legal professionalism and
professional liability issues, and is a
frequent presenter on professional
legal topics. For more than a
decade, he has studied, documented
and conducted statewide surveys
regarding violence against the legal
profession and methods to prevent
work-place violence.

In 2014, media agencies reported numerous
sensational acts of violence against the
legal profession. For example, in North
Carolina, a man drove a burning truck,
loaded with propane tanks and gasoline,
into the law office of his girlfriend’s attorney.
In Alabama, a city attorney was shot in
the chest while at his office. In Florida, a
Florida State University law school professor
was shot and killed at home. In Tennessee,
a former attorney was killed and his wife
injured by a package bomb left at their
residence. In Delaware, a man attempted
to hire an undercover detective to kill his
former defense counsel and a prosecutor.
In New York, a corporate attorney, while
in court, hit opposing counsel in the face
and chest with his briefcase, requiring the
victim to undergo back surgery. In Illinois, a
woman plotted to kill a town attorney.
While none of these incidents occurred in
North Dakota, it doesn’t mean that members
of the North Dakota legal profession are
immune from work-related threats and
violence. The legal profession is left to
wonder whether the practice of law is
actually becoming more violent or if violent
acts are simply more publicized when they
occur. To better evaluate and understand
the degree of threats and violence against
attorneys at the state level, from October 27,
2014 through November 24, 2014, all active,
in-state members of the North Dakota
legal profession were invited to participate
in a privately conducted on-line survey
regarding violence and threats of violence
they have experienced in the practice of law.
This article provides a brief summary of the
responses to the 2014 survey (the “Survey”)
and a glimpse into work-related threats and

violence experienced, but rarely discussed,
by members of the North Dakota legal
profession.

Statewide Studies of Violence
Against the Legal Profession
To date, 13 other statewide surveys have
been conducted regarding violence against
the legal profession. Their results provide
surprising details of violence and threats of
violence experienced by attorneys related
to the practice of law, the overwhelming
majority of which have never been publicly
reported.
Acts of violence reported by attorneys
in these 13 surveys include assaults and
batteries, as well as vandalism to attorneys’
businesses and personal property. Many
threats of violence include phone calls,
written letters, emails, texts, on-line posts,
verbal threats of physical violence and death
threats, and even attempts to hire individuals
to kill attorneys. The results of each of these
surveys reveal that violence and threats of
violence against the legal profession are far
more prevalent than reported by the media
or commonly perceived by practitioners.

The Survey of Violence
Against the North Dakota
Legal Profession
The Survey was conducted independently by
the author, \