Ex-partner at law firm suspended

A former Russell McVeagh partner guilty of misconduct has been suspended from practising law for two years by a disciplinary tribunal.

In June last year, James GardnerHopkins was found guilty of six charges of misconduct, including for touching interns inappropriately at work functions in 2015. The case is thought of as fundamental to starting New Zealand’s #MeToo movement.

His suspension will begin on February 7 this year and he has been ordered to pay $64,630 in costs to the Law Society’s Standards Committee.

In June, the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found Gardner-Hopkins’ conduct “disgraceful or dishonourable”.

Five of the charges related to his behaviour at the law firm’s Christmas party. The sixth charge related to his behaviour at another firm function held at his home.

During the hearing, multiple former summer clerks testified that Gardner-Hopkins had touched them inappropriately.

Another woman “cried all weekend” after he had touched her without consent and allegedly touched her friend’s breast in front of her.

The tribunal wrote in the penalty ruling that the starting point for his offending must be a strike-off, but there were other principles weighed against that.

The tribunal wrote that the practitioner himself acknowledged at the hearing that he now accepted the laddish culture and inappropriate comments that he “led and fostered was inappropriate”.

The ruling also referenced the “very significant consequences” that arose as a consequence of his conduct, including a “significant drop in income” and a “significant reputational and emotional” impact.

One former worker told the tribunal last year that supporting the interns who accused him of sexual misconduct felt like a “full-time job”. She said even after complaints escalated he remained working and the women were “petrified” of running into him and were “traumatised”.