Drunk senior lawyer suspended for grabbing colleague’s genitals, making lewd comments at Xmas party

The unnamed senior lawyer behaved inappropriately at two separate Christmas parties several weeks apart.

A senior lawyer at a big law firm who grabbed a junior colleague’s penis at a Christmas party and made lewd comments about people he worked with has been suspended for 15 months.

The man, who has interim name suppression, was drunk at two different parties run by his firm several years ago. At the first, he commented about employees’ genitalia and sex lives and touched staff inappropriately.

At the second party weeks later, he spanked a woman with a piece of wood, kissed her on the top of the head and danced in a sexualised manner.

The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal described the man’s behaviour as “appalling and uncouth”.

A hearing into his conduct was held earlier this year, at which several junior staff gave evidence that they had chosen to downplay how the behaviour affected them for fear of not being hired for a permanent role.

Now, the same tribunal has ordered the man to be suspended from practising as a lawyer and to pay a combined $73,000 in compensation and legal fees.

The tribunal compared his behaviour to inappropriate conduct by other lawyers it had penalised, such as James Gardner-Hopkins, Richard Dean Palmer and a “Mr Q”.

Gardner-Hopkins was suspended for touching five interns inappropriately, also at a Christmas party. Palmer was suspended for taking female interns to a sex shop and for a series of inappropriate emails, and Mr Q drunkenly offered a colleague “the best orgasm” of her life in a taxi ride home from a work event.

The tribunal found that, in the latest case, the man’s conduct was not strictly sexual or predatory, although it had sexual elements to it.

In comparing the case to Palmer’s, the tribunal said both involved “disregard for junior staff, and in both cases the junior staff were stressed and anxious as a result of the practitioner’s conduct” and that this was “more invasive, humiliating and offensive than Mr Palmer’s conduct”.

The tribunal said the man could be described as “completely out of control”.

‘What I think is funny, other people may not, I suppose’

After the two incidents, the senior lawyer apologised to his affected colleagues, referred himself to a psychologist and reduced his alcohol intake significantly, before going sober altogether. He is now approaching four years of sobriety.

In his affidavit to the tribunal earlier this year, he described his conduct as a “joke gone too far” and said he hadn’t intended to offend anyone.

“I’ve got a forthright sense of humour and can be provocative, and alcohol doesn’t help that,” he said.

“What I think is funny, other people may not, I suppose.”

The tribunal said the man’s sobriety was commendable, and it appeared he had made a full commitment to discovering and dealing with the factors which led him to behave as he did.

“We consider that [the lawyer’s] response has been significantly better than most other practitioners with whom we have dealt, who have had alcohol misuse problems,” the tribunal said in a decision released today.

Because of this, it had opted to significantly reduce the period of suspension he might otherwise have been given.

“This is because we consider that one of the purposes of suspension, namely the opportunity for rehabilitation, has largely been served.

“We are satisfied that he is, in the absence of intoxication, a skilful and solid lawyer and a considerate and supportive colleague and mentor.”

The man’s name will continue to be suppressed to allow him time to appeal against the decision.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.