(Photo: fizkes/Shutterstock.com)

Update: Sources confirmed Friday afternoon that Louis Lehot had been let go from DLA Piper that day. Read more here.

Another woman lawyer has come forward to publicly criticize DLA Piper's culture and its policy of using mandatory arbitration agreements. The former DLA Piper lawyer, Leah Christensen, worked in the firm's office of general counsel until earlier this year.

Just days after DLA Piper partner Vanina Guerrero lodged sexual assault accusations against senior partner Louis Lehot and called out the firm's mandatory arbitration policy in an open letter and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing, Christensen published a response in support Friday, saying the firm operates with a "culture of intimidation and oppression."

Christensen, who worked in the firm's San Diego office, said she wrote her response to Guerrero "so that you know there is someone else out there who understands the culture of intimidation and power at DLA Piper—and who is rooting for you to win this fight."

In an interview Friday, Christensen said she decided to make a public response because she can imagine how difficult it has been for Guerrero to come forward, and she wanted to validate her experience.

"I just felt so strongly about it, knowing the players, knowing the culture, and knowing how horrible it was on a day-to-day basis," she said. "I just decided they can't hurt me now."

A spokesman for DLA Piper did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

In response to Guerrero's letter Oct. 2, the firm's spokesman had said in a statement: "We are aware of these allegations by one of our partners and take them seriously. As soon as we were notified of the allegations, we took appropriate steps to investigate them. This process is ongoing and we continue to seek Ms. de Verneuil's cooperation in our investigation."

A call to Lehot on Friday was forwarded directly to a firm spokesman's voicemail. Lehot did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment by email Friday.

In addition to sending her letter to members of the press last week, Guerrero published it on the website Medium. Christensen published her letter as a response to Guerrero's Medium post Thursday.

Christensen said in her letter that she left DLA Piper on July 28 after five years with the firm. She was professional responsibility counsel to the firm, and practiced in the San Diego office. She is now a partner at McCune Wright Arevalo.

"You have told the truth about the culture of intimidation and oppression at DLA Piper. And you have told the truth about senior partner, Louis Lehot," Christensen wrote to Guerrero.

In her letter to the firm, Guerrero had accused Lehot of sexually assaulting her multiple times in the months after he recruited her to join the firm. Lehot is co-managing partner of DLA Piper's Silicon Valley office and co-chair of its U.S. emerging growth and venture capital practice.

In her response, Christensen said DLA Piper will protect Lehot "at all costs" and that he and "other 'high billing' partners are untouchable at DLA Piper."

Christensen said that other than Guerrero's claims, she does not have knowledge of sexual misconduct allegations against Lehot or others at DLA Piper.

She said her experience with Lehot included him "yelling, cursing, and making demands upon me or those with whom I worked on a frequent basis," and that she encountered similar behavior by other partners at DLA Piper.

"I came to DLA Piper as a lawyer with almost two decades of practice experience. Until taking the job at DLA Piper, I had never experienced such behavior from another attorney," Christensen wrote.

She added, in Friday's interview, "I was constantly being overridden. My job was sort of stupid when it came to these guys in power."

Christensen also alleged that the firm's general counsel, partner Elisha King, "has continued to suppress women's rights at the firm by the continued use of mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of employment."

King did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Friday.

King was named general counsel of the firm in August 2018, in anticipation of former GC Peter Pantaleo's retirement at the beginning of this year. She had previously served as the firm's deputy general counsel.

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