Drinking culture in legal world under scrutiny following scandals
Changing attitudes at top firms driven by fear of misconduct
One junior lawyer in London says a key feature of life at his elite City law firm is the eagerness of senior colleagues to make sure everyone “drinks up” at certain events.
He can recall “a few nights out that got pretty wild, some of them work-sponsored” and even threw up in his office after the Christmas party.
But he says the firm’s attitude to such behaviour is shifting — and that partners have grown increasingly nervous about joining in.
“Partners [senior lawyers] are terrified of going drinking with associates now,” he says. “And there’s basically an informal policy now that partners should never go drinking with female associates.”
Law is in the middle of a crisis over its drinking culture. The largest global groups are scrambling to clamp down on firm-sponsored drinking following a string of sexual misconduct scandals exacerbated by the prevalence of heavy drinking in the industry.
“Law firms aren’t alone but we’ve seen some high-profile problems recently,” says a London-based partner at a US firm. “The days of big p*ss-ups are gone and if law firms still want to turn a blind eye to it, then they should expect trouble.”
Alcohol has traditionally played a prominent role in the legal world, particularly in the high-octane domain of corporate law, where it acts both as a social lubricant when winning new clients and as a pressure valve for those working long hours. Parties and expensive wine are ways of knitting together young lawyers on intensive placement schemes and new hires poached from rival firms.
However, as the #MeToo movement spreads from Hollywood to the corporate world, the role alcohol plays in alleged misconduct issues at top-tier firms has come under scrutiny.
“The #MeToo [anti-sexual harassment] movement was a seismic shift and has moved into all areas where there’s the ability to abuse power — that of course includes law firms,” says another senior partner in the City.
Senior male lawyers at UK firm Freshfields and Baker McKenzie were last year accused of sexual harassment and hauled in front of the UK lawyers’ regulator.
Ryan Beckwith, a former restructuring partner and insolvency partner at Freshfields, was fined £35,000 after following home and engaging in sexual activity with a heavily intoxicated junior lawyer. He was also ordered to pay £200,000 in legal costs and has resigned.
Gary Senior, the former London boss of Baker McKenzie, has been accused of attempting to kiss a junior colleague in his hotel room after a recruitment event, and then trying to influence an investigation into his conduct. He denies the allegations against him and the case is ongoing.
The hearings exposed lurid details in which senior lawyers bankrolled all-day drinking sessions in Michelin-starred restaurants and paid for alcohol in bars and hotels.
They have triggered a rethink in attitude among firms and partners in the City, who have moved to detox their cultures.
“We have seen alcohol involved in many cases of sexual harassment and misconduct so the profession really needs to face up to this,” said Kieran Pender, senior legal adviser at the International Bar Association.
One partner at a large US firm confessed to feeling nervous about whether he could justify ordering wine at a lunch with more junior lawyers. “I just thought: no actually, let’s not,” he said. “It’s not worth it.”
Linklaters now asks lawyers to designate sober team members at events, a scheme it launched last year in advance of the Christmas party. The firm said the scheme was designed to “assist the smooth running of our social events”.
Baker McKenzie has enacted a drinking curfew at its events — a policy that began before last year’s Christmas party, according to an individual at the firm. The firm said it was “making a conscious effort to review and reduce the time over which alcohol is served, particularly for internal events”.
Baker McKenzie remains under investigation for an alleged cover-up into the accusations against Mr Senior, who allegedly tried to sway the outcome of the case. The firm denies there was a cover-up.
“Generally I think that health choices are for us all to make individually,” said a litigation partner at a rival firm. “But whether you like it or not we’ve seen so many problems becoming public that have arisen from alcohol.”
Meanwhile Slaughter and May has cancelled subsidised ski trips due to fears over heavy drinking. The decision followed an allegation of sexual harassment, but the firm said it was taken as part of a regular “risk management review”.
Freshfields has taken a tougher approach to potential misconduct. Last year its partners voted to establish a conduct committee with the power to fine partners who receive final warnings about their behaviour up to a fifth of their profit share for the year.
The legal sector is not alone. Insurers at Lloyd’s of London were banned from consuming alcohol during working hours in 2017. Accountancy group BDO, like Linklaters, has introduced a “sober chaperone” scheme at its Christmas party.
But some lawyers warned that obsessing about alcohol risked missing the real issue. “I am concerned that increasing the focus on alcohol and committing guidance to policy documents may be nothing more than easy window-dressing for firms,” said Amanda Cowell, a partner at White and Case. “Unless firms become healthier places to work, instances of such conduct will not reduce in number or seriousness.”