A former partner with magic circle firm Freshfields has agreed to a two-year suspension for inappropriately touching a junior colleague in a taxi.
Nicholas Tristan Williams said he was so drunk he could not remember the events of December 2017, but he accepted the allegations of misconduct based on the complainant’s account.
The matter was dealt with by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on the papers, meaning there was no open hearing. The outcome was agreed between Williams and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Williams and Person Z, an associate in his team and someone he considered a friend, had attended an annual work Christmas party together at the private home of another partner.
By the end of the night, Williams was so drunk he could barely stand up. Person Z felt she ought to help him get home so she arranged for them to share a taxi. During the journey, he touched her breast and put his arm around her: this continued even when she moved and told him to remove his hand.
When the taxi stopped near to what she thought was Williams’ home, he attempted to put his hand on her leg under her skirt. She told him ‘no, absolutely not’ and pushed him backwards.
Williams lay down on the street, and when she tried to help him up, he fell against her, touched her breast and tried to kiss her on the mouth.
Not wanting to leave him in a vulnerable state, she arranged a second taxi to take them to her house, where her partner was at home and could assist. Williams was then sick on himself, on a tree and on her shoes before making his own way home.
The tribunal said Williams had lacked integrity by taking unfair advantage of a more junior colleague and failing to treat her with respect. She was in a vulnerable position herself in trying to help Williams in an intoxicated state when he was much larger than her. It was agreed that sexual motivation was a factor.
In his mitigation, not agreed by the SRA, Williams said his behaviour in Person Z’s account was so out of character that he still found it difficult to believe it happened as described. But in the absence of any recollection, it was appropriate and correct to admit misconduct. He could offer no explanation or excuse for why he was so drunk and said he was ‘truly sorry’ for the way he had treated Person Z.
Having started at Freshfields as a trainee and qualified in 2006, Williams had enjoyed an unblemished and successful career, having been made partner seven months before the events in question. He resigned in December 2019 after the matters came to light and has not practised since. He added that the ‘lengthy and unexplained’ delay by the SRA in finalising its four-year investigation had taken a major toll on him.
He agreed to the two-year suspension and to paying £66,000 in costs.
