Wilmer's Washington D.C. offices

A London employee at U.S. firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) after she was convicted of entering an aircraft drunk and assaulting staff on the plane.

Michelle Marie Van Buskirk was fined £2,000 by the SRA for the misconduct on the flight, which took place last year.

It was widely reported at the time that she drunkenly assaulted a member of the cabin crew onboard a flight bound for the U.S., causing the plane to be diverted back to Heathrow for safety reasons.

The SRA fine follows her conviction at Isleworth crown court last year, where Van Buskirk was sentenced to six months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months, fined £4,500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115 as well as undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.

The SRA ruled that, as an employee of Wilmer, she had failed to behave in a way that maintains trust in the profession. In addition, the regulator issued Van Buskirk with a formal rebuke and ordered her to pay costs of £300 towards the investigation.

The regulator acknowledged her mitigation, namely that she had a genuine panic disorder for which she has received medical treatment in the past and which was directly concerned with flying, following a traumatic incident in her past.

She had also forgotten her prescribed anti-anxiety medication and therefore could not take it.

Wilmer declined to comment. Van Buskirk could not be reached for comment.

Van Buskirk's fine is the latest in a number of decisions taken by the SRA and its counterpart that have focused on behaviour outside of the profession.

In August, Hogan Lovells partner Sylvain Dhennin was officially rebuked by the SRA after failing to inform the body of a dispute he had with his former nanny.

Dhennin faced a London employment tribunal in September 2018 after his former nanny successfully claimed she had been discriminated against and unfairly dismissed because she was pregnant.