Attorneys can become targets because of dissatisfied or disgruntled clients. And like physicians and judges, attorneys are in the criminal’s cross-hairs because they are often in the 1% of income earners.

The online article, Threats Against Attorneys Are More Common Than You Think says that attorneys are regularly threatened and verbally abused by their own clients. It is so common place—many believe it comes with the job. The article goes on to say, “People are at their worst when they go to see an attorney. Whatever it is, they’re at a point where they are in a conflict that they do not know how to handle or can not handle,” said Stephen Kelson, an attorney from Utah who studies violence against the profession. “The attorneys end up being an outlet.”

A survey based study of 22 states, conducted over the past 10 years, show 35.5 percent to 46.5 of registered attorneys have been threatened or assaulted, claims Kelson. These threats included stalking, phone calls, letters, emails, texts, online posts, verbal threats of violence or death, and attempts to hire hitmen. The actual acts of violence ranged from vandalism and tampering with vehicles to physical assaults.

The article went on to state that those in family or criminal law are at the highest risk. These are powder kegs of emotion to start with, and do not need much of an ignition source to blow! Acts of violence or intimidation happen mostly at courthouses or in attorneys’ offices, but they were also reported to have happened while the attorneys were traveling, in jails or prisons visiting clients, and at their own homes.

Process Servers are the proverbial messengers that could have coined that phrase- “Don’t shoot the Messenger!” The article Assault on Process Servers Continues in 2015 states that many people being served become hostile, while process servers are just trying to do their job. They are also upholding constitutional rights by providing the defendant with due process. Since 2012 over 100 assaults have been reported. These guys and gals in this profession, often get cameos in dramas on television, but in real life, they really experience a lot of dangerous drama.

Interior Designers who go to locations to meet clients face similar exposure and risk as real estate agents.