Law Society conducts national survey

The New Zealand Law Society is inviting every lawyer in the country to participate in a nationwide survey into legal workplace environments.

The organisation has tapped research firm Colmar Brunton to conduct the confidential survey as the country’s legal profession faces the issues of sexual and other forms of harassment in the workplace.

“It is important to carry out some robust research into the behaviours lawyers have experienced in their workplaces,” said Law Society President Kathryn Beck. “To ensure we get as representative a picture as possible, we invite all lawyers to participate in the survey, regardless of what their experiences have been.”

All responses to the survey are private and will be collected and analysed by the research firm, which is very experienced in carrying out this type of survey, Beck said.

The Law Society has already sent details of the survey to more than 13,250 lawyers practicing in New Zealand. Each lawyer has been assigned a unique identifier only they can access to contribute to the survey.

“This is an excellent opportunity for us to assess the magnitude of the issues and workplace culture problems in our profession. We must all work to develop solutions to overcome them and to move forward. I urge all New Zealand lawyers to complete this survey. It is a chance for us all to act together to improve this great profession we have chosen to work in,” Beck said.

The survey comes after the Law Society launched harassment reporting and lawyer support channels in the wake of allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled against top firms. The organisation has also launched a new working group, helmed by Dame Silvia Cartwright, to investigate the processes in place for reporting and taking action against harassment and inappropriate behaviour.