Bazley report: A light shines into Russell McVeagh law firm and what it shows isn't good

Thursday, 5 July 2018

The country's law schools, which so strongly cut ties with Russell McVeagh earlier this year, appear tentative to resume a relationship with the beleaguered law firm.

After four months and interviews with 250 people, public service troubleshooter Dame Margaret Bazley on Thursday morning released her 89-page report, which was triggered by sexual misconduct involving summer interns around December 2015.

While most people interviewed felt it was a 'great place to work' others told Bazley the law firm had a work-hard, play-hard culture 'that involved excessive drinking and in some instances crude, drunken, and sexually inappropriate behaviour'.

Otago, Canterbury, Waikato, Auckland, AUT and Victoria universities announced  in March  they were rejecting any recruitment branding  and Russell McVeagh-related events on their campuses until after Bazley's report was released.

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However, with the report now out, all six were proceeding cautiously to determine whether relationships between their institutions and the firm would be reinstated.

“The welfare of our students and graduates is paramount; the adoption of [Bazley's] recommendations will undoubtedly improve the situation at Russell McVeagh as well as providing guidance to other professional firms in creating a safe employment environment,' University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Rod Carr said.

'Our Dean of Law will now be in contact with the firm to explore how we can re-establish a relationship that is mutually productive and protects our students and graduates.”

Carr's sentiments were echoed by other university leaders around the country who said they would consider  the review collectively when they meet in Dunedin on August 9. Representatives from Russell McVeagh had requested to speak to the group.

Among her findings Bazley reported that 'junior lawyers and young staff were encouraged to drink to excess', but also that after the incidents 2½ years ago, the culture appeared to have changed.

Those incidents include a 2015 Christmas party where summer clerks were allegedly groped, kissed, and made to drink, by a male partner, who later tried to get into one of the clerk's  taxi home. The clerks said they didn't know whether they should report it as 'no-one around them had reacted at the time'.

The same male partner had a second boozy Christmas party that year where there was further alleged sexual misconduct, then later that summer, after another alcohol-fuelled evening, that ended with 'inappropriate sexual misconduct' by a male solicitor at a Wellington bar. It is understood the victim was a summer intern.

Wellington Women Lawyers' Association convenor Steph Dyhrberg​ said the report was a 'nuclear device in the tearoom' of the legal profession that would lead to real change.

Bazley had overall come up with a 'blueprint for change'.

But the fact remained,  still working in law in Wellington is a solicitor accused of the most heinous of the breaches. He was never prosecuted, partly because his alleged victims never laid police complaints.

'We are talking about allegations of what I would call a sexual predator. We are talking about … alleged sexual assaults,' Dyhrberg said.

Justice Minister Andrew Little weighed in calling the company's culture and conduct outline in the report as 'totally unacceptable'. He would raise the recommendations with the Law Society  which was also conducting a review led by Dame Sylvia Cartwright.

Law Society president Kathryn Beck called the report an 'important milestone in shining light into the dark corners of our profession' which she hoped would help change and better the culture within all New Zealand law firms.

“We should not for a minute believe this is isolated to one firm … Every lawyer in New Zealand must now commit to turning this around and building a just culture that we can all be proud of and which the public expect.'

Russell McVeagh is part of an informal collection of New Zealand law firms known as the 'Big Three' alongside Bell Gully and Chapman Tripp. Both firms said they would be reviewing the findings and recommendations of Bazley's  report.

During Bazley's research, many other stories came to light which, though outside the terms of reference and not investigated by Bazley, paint a grim picture.

'They ranged from inappropriate comments,sexual harassment, indecent exposure, and sexual attacks such as spanking the bottom of a junior woman in front of others, grabbing the bottom of a junior woman, and grabbing the groin of a junior man.'

Russell McVeagh chairman Malcolm Crotty said the firm's board was 'deeply sorry' for the incidents and acknowledged 'serious mistakes'.

'We have apologised to the young women for the hurt and damage caused. We recognise that they have shown great courage and we applaud them for this. Their action will result in meaningful change.'

The current chief executive was retiring later in 2018 and the new boss would lead 'transformational change', he said.

The report made a raft of recommendations covering more than five pages, which Russell McVeagh had accepted.