Baker McKenzie said it had "learned much from this episode".

Baker McKenzie was on the verge of unveiling former London head Gary Senior as its U.K. gender champion when an investigation into his behaviour arose due to claims of sexual misconduct, a tribunal heard today.

The firm's former U.K. human resources head Martin Blackburn said during his first day of cross-examination on Monday that Baker McKenzie was about to send a firmwide announcement that Senior had become its gender champion when the internal investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct was taking place.

Blackburn said he had "thought about what [the alleged victim] Person A would think if she saw that announcement" and raised concerns internally over Senior's new appointment given the circumstances, which led to litigation partner Tom Cassels taking over that title.

Blackburn also claimed he had disagreed with the firm's decision to let ex-London head Gary Senior stay at the firm following claims of sexual misconduct, and that there had been similar incidents at the firm prior to it.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) hearing on Monday heard that Blackburn had been "unhappy" that the alleged victim of the misconduct, Person A, was set to leave the firm if Senior stayed.

Blackburn said in his witness statement: "When it became clear that Person A would not stay if Gary remained, it was the wrong decision to keep him at the firm."

Person A, who had been a junior associate at the firm at the time of the alleged incident, left the firm afterwards, while Senior remained at the firm and was handed other management positions. He left the firm shortly after the historical allegations emerged in 2018.

Blackburn made the new claims on Monday morning, as the SDT hearing into the allegations and the handling of the internal investigation resumed via Zoom video call after a four month break.

Senior stands accused by U.K. regulator the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of sexually harassing a junior associate in 2012, and influencing an internal investigation into the matter at the time. Baker McKenzie, former partner Tom Cassels as well as Blackburn are all accused of having mishandled the internal investigation.

In December, Senior admitted in court that his behaviour towards the junior associate amounted to sexual harassment.

During his first day of cross-examination, Blackburn described his role in the internal investigation following the alleged incident in 2012, as "passive."

He said that the ultimate decision into the incident had been made by "the layers of partners" above him, and said then global chair Eduardo Leite was "the ultimate person responsible for our firm and the ultimate decision-maker".

Blackburn, who reported into then-London head Senior at the time, also claimed it would have been "inappropriate" for him to be take a significant role in the investigation given Senior's seniority to him.

Blackburn added in the hearing that there had been "precedents" to the Senior investigation within the firm. He claimed an incident that had "similarities to that of Gary's" had taken place in the Amsterdam office, and that another similar incident had happened previously in another office.

On Monday afternoon, Blackburn said in the hearing that working on the internal investigation had been:"…probably the most difficult week of my working life… My respect [for Gary] and everything changed from that week."

A spokesperson for the firm said in a statement: "We have been co-operating fully with the Solicitors Regulation Authority since the beginning of this process in 2018. We have learned much from this episode, recognised what went wrong and have well-established and effective policies and programs in place across the firm."

The hearing continues.

Read more:

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Gary Senior Investigators 'Betrayed Their Colleagues', Baker McKenzie London Head Claimed