The partners of ((law firm name)) welcome the opportunity[1] to address allegations of inappropriate conduct[2] towards junior members of staff.
The story has developed.[3] It is clear that the problems identified do not reside within one small corner of the legal profession.[4]
When the firm was alerted to this incident at the time we undertook a full investigation into the allegations.[5] That resulted in us taking swift and decisive action.[6] ((Law firm name)) prides itself on its supportive and empowering culture.[7]
((Law firm name)) is dedicated to doing everything that we can to make our offices a safe and supportive place to work.[8] Like Russell McVeagh and many other major firms we also are working on a “transition to work” programme for our graduate hires.[9]
We have been asked by the women involved to respect their privacy so, therefore, we will not be commenting further.[10]
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[1] Our hand has been forced because Newsroom named us too.
[2] We can’t bring ourselves to call it sexual harassment because then we’d have to admit there is a real problem.
[3] This was good for us when it was just Russell McVeagh.
[4] We are going to minimise our conduct by saying that it happens everywhere.
[5] Allegations which were consistent with what everybody already knew about the perpetrator but which we had to pretend were a surprise.
[6] C:/Documents/Cover-up/Non-disclosure agreement.docx
[7] But everyone here can name the male partners that still work here and the female juniors that don’t.
[8] We had years to get our house in order but did nothing, so anything we do now is too little, too late.
[9] As if the cause of the problem in this case was that our graduates didn’t know how to work the photocopier instead of a male partner abusing his position.
[10] We are happy that at last there is a step we can take to protect their careers and sense of self-worth that is also very convenient for us.
Strictly obiter 