Law Society super-injunction
The Law Society has used a rare legal gag order to attempt to conceal a new case of alleged sexual harassment or bullying by a senior lawyer.
The super-injunction – the first such hard-line suppression known of in New Zealand – was granted by High Court Justice Peter Churchman after the Law Society bungled a complaint file and inadvertently sent details to another person who had nothing to do with the case.
Super-injunctions became notorious in the UK and some other overseas jurisdictions because not only do they stop embarrassing information being disclosed – but they also mean the very existence of the case must be kept secret.
This New Zealand order, made on March 29, came to light after the email’s mistaken recipient challenged the super-injunction as an unacceptable threat to open justice.
Stuff learned of the matter and joined the proceedings, applying for the High Court to both lift the super-injunction and, further, to be allowed to reveal that this was a new case of alleged sexual harassment in the legal fraternity. The confidential nature of the contents of the email and the persons involved was not challenged.
The bungling of another case of sexual harassment is embarrassing for the Law Society, coming so soon after the the outcry over its handling of sexual harassment at law firm Russell McVeagh and at university law schools, and its attempt to shut down #MeToo legal blogger Zoe Lawton.
Late yesterday, High Court Justice Rebecca Ellis issued new orders effectively allowing Stuff to disclose the fact of the proceeding, the super-injunction, and the botched sexual harassment or bullying case that it was designed to conceal.
Last night, Law Society president Kathryn Beck sent an email apologising to lawyers for the ‘‘completely unacceptable’’ privacy breach.
‘‘The breach occurred through the incorrect application of an ‘auto fill’ email function,’’ she said.
‘‘The email concerned a complaint to the Law Society and it was incorrectly sent to one individual with a similar first name.’’