Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
1. I am unable to submit the complete details of my experience, given that I do not wish to
jeopardise any future tribunal proceeding or criminal trial in relation to my specific circumstances.
2. I remain committed to the individual concerned being appropriately sanctioned, and the route
to achieving a satisfactory outcome is continuing.
3. In brief, I was sexually assaulted by a partner of a magic circle law firm, whilst I was a junior
lawyer in the same team. The assault was a serious breach of my privacy, and caused significant harm
to my mental health. I no longer work at the relevant firm.
4. The investigation which followed, and the handling of my complaint more generally by the
firm, significantly contributed to the distress I was experiencing as a result of the assault.
5. I refer to the Terms of Reference provided by the committee, and set out below my
observations and recommendations based on my own experience.
Sexual harassment policies / alcohol policies / firm wide training and awareness
Industry standard
16. Developing an industry standard with regards sexual harassment and alcohol policies is
something which should also be explored, possibly in conjunction with the SRA and rape and sexual
assault support organisations.
17. There is, to my mind, some merit in requiring law firms to ‘sign up’ publicly to such a
standard, thereby publicly committing to the required behaviours (and potentially enabling a sharing of
demonstrably positive approaches and strategies between firms).
18. Reporting incidents of sexual misconduct should be encouraged, and all complainants should
be respected and treated with care.
19. The routes to reporting should be numerous, given that individuals will have varying
preferences depending on the nature of their complaint and their personal circumstances.
20. In particular:
a. an ability to report complaints anonymously should be available, should the
complainant wish to do so;
b. designated members of staff should be appointed (and publicised as being available)
to discuss any concerns in the first instance. Both a man and a woman should be selected to
occupy such designated individual roles (possibly in each team – depending on the size of the
firm), and those individuals should be given separate training on how to deal with and respond
to such concerns;
c. it should be made clear that heads of teams, HR departments and other key
individuals are all available to discuss concerns if necessary.
21. Whilst not all employees will feel comfortable reporting in the same way, it is possible that
visibly appointed individuals will encourage complainants to raise concerns on a more informal basis,
and discuss their options/next steps privately, should they choose to do so.
22. Encouragement to report all incidents of concern – including those of a less serious nature –
may prevent more serious incidents from occurring at all.
23. In investigating a claim of sexual misconduct, the relevant firm should acknowledge that
testing the veracity of evidence, to the same standard expected and required in a criminal trial, is
neither possible nor appropriate in the employment/workplace context.
24. Firms should therefore be encouraged not to ‘hide’ behind the high standard of proof required
to achieve a conviction in a criminal trial.
25. Firms should recognise, and state publicly, that whilst a high proportion (if not all) incidents
relating to sexual misconduct in the workplace may also constitute a sexual offence (and that the
complainant is free to pursue such a route if they wish), the firm is inevitably concerned with a set of
different (albeit related) considerations, and not with surmounting the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’
standard of proof required to achieve a criminal conviction.
26. It should not be the case that an inability to achieve the criminal standard of proof prevents
a serious sanction or dismissal being imposed in the workplace context.
27. In assessing the severity of the incident, a firm should be concerned primarily with:
a. most importantly, the harm caused to the complainant;
b. the imbalance of power, if relevant, between the complainant and the relevant
individual;
c. the risk to other members of staff;
d. the lack of commitment to diversity and inclusion demonstrated by the relevant
individual;
e. a failure to act with integrity by the relevant individual, and a lack commitment to the
values and objectives of the firm; and
f. the risk of reputational harm (which should only ever be dealt with via a sanction being
imposed on the relevant individual, and never via a requirement that the complainant sign an
NDA or agree to a confidentiality undertaking – see below).
NDAs / confidentiality undertakings
34. Due to my dissatisfaction with the firm’s process, I reported the incident to the SRA following
the conclusion of the firm’s own investigation.
35. At the time, the SRA had not released their recent guidance in relation to how the regulator
would likely deal with incidents of sexual misconduct, and I welcome the engagement from them in
relation to these issues.
36. I would encourage the SRA to go further, and publish advice expressly written for potential
complainants, which should be easily accessible on the SRA’s website.
37. The advice should set out how a report will likely be handled by the SRA in the first instance,
and refer expressly to organisations which can offer additional medical and/or emotional support.
38. The advice should also include an indication that it may be necessary to report the incident to
police or another enforcement body without the complainant’s consent (together with the regulatory
framework which allows the regulator to do this).
39. Whilst I am generally encouraged by the SRA in terms of the seriousness with which
they continue to handle my own complaint, I remain concerned about the length of time the process is
taking. This should be reviewed, and in particular the SRA should consider whether certain
standardised time periods within their investigation and tribunal processes could be abridged
in exceptional circumstances, such as in circumstances of serious sexual misconduct.
Conclusion
40. I am pleased to make this submission to the committee to assist with their enquiry. I am able
to give additional detail in relation to my own experience if that is helpful, although not to the extent
that any subsequent investigation, tribunal or criminal trial is jeopardised.
June 2018