A former managing associate at US firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) accepted that he 'upset' a colleague who accused him of touching her inappropriately, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has heard.
Lewis Brady, admitted in 2017, is alleged to have acted towards two women, whose identities are withheld, in a manner which was unwanted and/or inappropriate and/or sexually motivated. Brady denies both allegations. At the time of the alleged incidents the 32-year-old was a managing associate at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. He does not hold a current practising certificate.
Brady is alleged to have touched Person A, a paralegal, on five occasions and touched Person B, who was at the time a managing associate at the firm, on her chest as they shared a taxi and attempted to kiss her.
Asked about the incident with Person A in which she is said to have sat on him and he is alleged to have touched her underneath her clothes, Brady denied he attempted to kiss her and said he touched her upper body over her clothes but did not touch her under her clothes.
Lousie Culleton, for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said: ‘During all of this you did not check in with her, you did not ask if she was okay.’ Brady answered: ‘She was okay. She could have just got up. I do not understand. In the exact moment she said she wanted to go home, it all stopped and she left.’
Culleton said: ‘Her body language, her reactions were such that she was not consenting.’
Brady said: ‘That is just not accurate.’
Culleton read out a message sent by Brady in response to Person B’s message asking for an apology over what had happened the night of the alleged taxi incident in which he said he had an ‘awful feeling the next day I was inappropriate, I am so sorry’.
Brady said: ‘I did not see the value of getting into an argument with my best friend.’
Culleton said: ‘This message shows you had an awful feeling the next day, that you were being inappropriate.’
He added: ‘It was inappropriate, but it was one of many inappropriate things between us. I do not know what else to say. That is just the reality of it. I was gutted by her message, no doubt about that. I had no indication before this happened [the message] that is how she felt. We corresponded as normal all weekend.
‘I was shocked by it, really shocked by it. This is me accepting I had upset her…I never meant to upset anyone. I care about her so much, I never wanted to hurt her.’
The hearing continues.
