Former Freshfields Partner Beckwith Launches High Court Appeal
Beckwith is appealing against the tribunal's decision on liability and costs, not the sanction itself.
February 25, 2020 at 12:30 PM
2 minute read
Ryan Beckwith
Former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ryan Beckwith is appealing a tribunal decision that saw him fined £35,000 with costs of £200,000.
In October, Beckwith, stood before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) accused of engaging in sexual activity with a junior colleague without her consent. Though some had expected that Beckwith would receive a suspension or an outright ban, the tribunal opted to fine him on the grounds that it was a 'one-off" incident and that he posed no future risk to the public.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) yesterday said it had decided not to appeal a decision that saw fined rather than banned or suspended.
In a statement, Beckwith's lawyer, Nick Brett of Brett Wilson, said: "On Wednesday 19 February 2020, Mr Beckwith filed grounds to appeal against the decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal dated 30 January 2020 and it would not be appropriate to comment further pending the hearing in the High Court which will be listed in due course."
He added that the the appeal was not against the SDT's sanction, but rather against the decision on liability and costs.
A person with knowldge of the High Court process said that the Court has "broad discretion" and have the power to affirm, set aside or vary the SDT's judgment.
A second person said he expected the case to take "many months" to appear at court, and that the process was a review rather than a re-hearing, so there will be no witness involvement.
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