Inside the SDT

Partners in Baker McKenzie's 2012 management committee decided not to report the Gary Senior matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) as they did not perceive the matter to be 'serious misconduct', a virtual tribunal heard today.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) also heard that the firm paid "around £140,000″ to Gary Senior's alleged victim Person A in a settlement agreement.

Baker McKenzie's former London managing partner 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 former U.K. head of human resources Martin Blackburn are all accused of having mishandled the internal investigation.

On the second day of his cross-examination – which took place via Zoom in view of the lockdown – Blackburn said that he relied on the views of former head of disputes resolution Tom Cassels and other partners of the management committee to determine whether the Gary Senior matter should be reported to the SRA.

Blackburn said in his witness statement and in the hearing that Cassels had told him he had "taken counsel" from partners of the management committee, who "had satisfied themselves that [reporting the matter to the SRA] was not something that needed to be done."

Though he said he did not know exactly who was involved in the decision not to report, he indicated that some partners of the management committee at the time included intellectual property partner Paul Rawlinson, corporate partner Peter Strivens, and Senior himself. 

However, the SRA's counsel stressed in the hearing that no written evidence can support Blackburn's claim. Further, Cassels' counsel argued that no discussions of that nature happened and "no one considered reporting to the SRA at the time as no one perceived this as serious misconduct".

Previously, Peter Strivens said in his own cross-examination that "it had not occurred to anyone who knew at the time to report Senior's conduct to the Solicitors Regulation Authority."

Blackburn added that, while he knew at the time that lawyer misbehavior should be reported to the SRA, he "did not know" whether misbehavior extended to this particular matter and therefore did not think it required reporting to the SRA.

It was also revealed in the hearing that the firm had reached a settlement with Person A to the tune of £140,000.

Andrew Tabachnik QC, acting for the SRA in the hearing, also questioned Blackburn on why the firm's former general counsel, Jonathan Westwell, had not been told about the incident, nor been involved in any decision-making related to it at the time.

Blackburn said he did not think about informing Westwell of the Gary Senior issue because he did not trust him not to gossip about it to other colleagues at the time.

He said: "There have been previous circumstances where I felt that he'd said inappropriate things to his own and other secretaries."

He argued that his primary worry at the time was to respect Person A's wish for the matter to remain confidential if she was going to return to the firm, but there was "already a whole army of of partners who knew about it".

Blackburn denied all of the SRA's allegations against him at the end of his cross-examination by Andrew Tabachnik QC, acting for the regulator.

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

On Monday, Blackburn revealed in cross-examination that the firm was about to announce Senior as gender champion for its London office as the internal investigation following the alleged incident in 2012 was taking place.

A spokesperson for Bakers 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:

'I Kind of Wished I Was Dead', Gary Senior Tells Disciplinary Tribunal

Baker McKenzie Restricted Senior's Alcohol Consumption After Complaint, Tribunal Told

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