A top New Zealand lawyer accused by multiple women at his former law firm of sexual misconduct apologised "unreservedly" today, breaking down several times as he testified at his disciplinary hearing.
“I didn’t have any idea or understanding of the impact of my actions,” said the former Russell McVeagh partner, who has name supression.
The hearing, which started earlier this week, is over seven charges of misconduct, or unsatisfactory conduct. The man challenged claims of predatory behaviour and sexual assault at a Christmas party in 2015 made by four women.
“I absolutely deny that I would've deliberately groped any clerk's breasts or bottom on the dancefloor. If I had done that on a crowded dancefloor in front of colleagues, and certainly more senior members, someone would've taken me to task,” he said.
Three women allege he touched or groped their breasts and bottoms while dancing that evening, one claiming it lasted so long it “felt like forever in my mind”.
He did acknowledge touching a woman’s top and tracing the line of a wine stain which went over one of her breasts.
“It was a bad joke. I was asking, ‘What’s this? You’ve made a mess.’ It was something that was supposed to be amusing,” he said.
He said he does not recall pulling the first complainant away from the bar and placing his hand on her pubic bone.
Two women described their fear of the man and described feeling manipulated by him.
“I do recall putting my arm around her shoulder or waist, but I don’t recall touching her pubic region and I don’t recall her being uncomfortable. If I did [touch her pubic region] it was not intentional and I apologise.”
He also denies kissing another summer clerk on the cheek, again pointing to the number of people attending the party and that it would be a “stupid thing to do” in front of others attending.
The practitioner became emotional at times while giving evidence.
He spoke about his upbringing and how he never felt like he fit in at school or university, but enjoyed the tight-knit team culture he was a part of while working at Russell McVeagh.
The man made inappropriate comments while under the influence of alcohol.
Throughout his schooling, the man said he excelled academically and received a number of scholarships.
Over the course of the hearing, all four female complainants and other witnesses have commented on the man’s drinking habits.
He addressed it in his statement, saying he used to rely on alcohol and has realised that was wrong.
“Drinking had become a habit for me, and a very unhealthy one. I thought I could hold my drink, but can see this was not actually the case,” he said.
He said in his final years while working at the firm he drank to deal with the anxiety of the job.
It’s now put the spotlight on the whole legal profession and other industries.
He described his first event at Russell McVeagh, while a summer clerk himself, as “something out of a movie”, alleging there were “dwarves for waitstaff” and that members of the human resources team and other senior employees put their credit cards at the bar with no limits.
He remembered that time as involving a lot of alcohol and that everyone at the firm enjoyed drinking together.
The man worked his way up the ranks at the top law firm and says he was treated as the “entertainer” – routinely asked to wine-and-dine clients, influential people or potential recruits.
He was aware his team had developed a reputation for being very social, going out for drinks together frequently.
It found a culture involving “excessive drinking” and at times “sexually inappropriate behaviour”.
He said the amounts consumed on each occasion were not consistently excessive, but acknowledged there were several times he turned up to work hungover “or bleary eyed”.
A witness, who says at one point she was the only woman on the man’s team, said she stopped going along to team drinks as she felt uncomfortable and also did not always feel safe around the men given the demeaning way they talked about women.
The man says he regrets not checking on the personal wellbeing of his staff.
He also acknowledged kissing a former intern at his home during a separate Christmas function for his team.
This was detailed earlier in the week by a witness.
Some employees at Russell McVeagh were accused of inappropriate behaviour towards two student interns two years ago.
Regarding the incident, the man said the pair stopped kissing shortly after the witness stormed off and told the woman, “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
He said in hindsight he should have done more to protect the intern and himself from getting into that situation.
The man resigned at the end of March 2016, roughly two months after the kissing incident.
“The experience was gut-wrenching. I was extremely embarrassed,” he told the tribunal. Since then, he said, he’d sought professional help for his drinking and underlying anxiety.
Towards the end of his statement, he said the women “have nothing to fear from me” while crying, and said he accepts the consequences of his actions and the position he is now in.
The hearing continues tomorrow, during which he is expected to face cross-examination.
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