The Day of the Endangered Lawyer is this Saturday (24 January 2026). The day is an annual event focused on threats to the profession. This year the country focus is the United States.
We have seen various threats and attacks on US lawyers including the targeting of law firms, judges and prosecutors as well as International Criminal Court sanctions. Our colleagues are facing multiple threats, harassment, violence and interference with their professional activities.
We support the American Bar Association (ABA) statement issued on Tuesday (20 January 2026) that encouraged judges to remain vigilant after the shooting of the Tippecanoe County (Ind.) Superior Court Judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, at their home on Sunday (18 January 2026).
Violence against legal professionals is completely unacceptable.
Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar, said: “In this year of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Bar Council of England and Wales extends a hand of support across the Atlantic to colleagues who are being targeted with harassment, threats, and violence.
“Conflating lawyers with their clients stabs at the heart of the rule of law and the Bar Council reaffirms a common commitment of justice, professional independence and mutual respect. There can be no justification for violence against legal professionals in any jurisdiction.
“The UK was one of the first countries to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Profession of Lawyer and we urge the Government to proceed swiftly to ratification."
The US was selected to be the focus this year by the Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer. The coalition has released a report this week explaining the “sustained and co-ordinated campaign aimed at undermining the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary”.
Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer – report issued by the coalition on Thursday 22 January 2026
Statement of ABA President Michelle A. Behnke Re: Indiana judge shooting and violence against judges – Tuesday 20 January 2026
Bar Council’s previous work in support of colleagues in the US –
- Our December 2025 International rule of law lecture and David Cole’s Guardian from the lecture: Beware Trump’s two-pronged strategy undermining democracy.
- The ABA’s leader Michelle Behnke came to London in September 2025 to speak to colleagues about the safety of lawyers globally and the event reported by The Global Legal Post: ‘We must work together to protect one another’ – Bar leaders call for greater protection for lawyers
- Bar Council supports American Bar Association – press release April 2025
- Bar Council supports IBA call for all states to oppose US sanctions against the ICC – press release February 2025
The International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, marked annually on 24 January, was first established in 2010. The date was chosen because of the Massacre of Atocha when four lawyers and their co-worker were murdered in Madrid in 1977. Each year the Coalition for the Endangered Lawyer, a network of national and international legal organisations and Bar associations use the day to draw attention to the plight faced by lawyers as a result of their work.
Find out more about the Council of Europe Convention on the Profession of the Profession of Lawyer.