(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – An Urbana native who was bullied in high school and made bullying her 2003 Miss America platform – now has supervised a report on bullying in the legal profession. 

Erika Harold runs the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and says one quarter of Illinois lawyers say they have been bullied. The report’s out. Now what? 

“The first recommendation was for legal workplaces to set forth anti-bullying policies,” Harold said. “This is distinct from an anti-harassment policy, and it encompasses a wider scope of behavior.

“A second key recommendation is for courts and judges to have standing orders that prohibit bullying and uncivil behaviors in courtrooms or in the course of litigation activities.”

Harold said the most frequent offenders cited are opposing counsel, higher-ups within one’s law firm, and judges.

2Civility_BullyingReport_Full_FN.pdf