City firms Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) have been spurred into action by the swathe of sexual misconduct allegations that in recent months have plagued the industry, launching personal relationship disclosure and whistleblowing initiatives within a fortnight of one another.
In early May, Linklaters issued ‘guidance on how to manage relationships at work’, with the imperative that partners and staff disclose any relationship with colleagues to an office, group or practice head, or someone in HR, in order to manage ‘actual or potential’ conflict of interest.
Hot on the heels of the Magic Circle firm’s example, HSF, in a call for ‘common sense’ from staff, introduced its own firm-wide policy – ‘personal relationships in the workplace’ – not two weeks later.
Both firms insisted that their guidelines were not designed to ban personal relationships within their ranks altogether. Linklaters highlighted as motivation for the policy the need for transparency where the relationships involve someone in a position of power deciding career progression, bonuses or work allocation, to avoid abuse of that power.
‘It is not about prying into personal information but about acting as a responsible business by supporting our people,’ Linklaters said in a statement.
Both Linklaters and HSF have brought in third-party whistleblowing networks for employees to anonymously report harassment, discrimination and bullying at work. Linklaters’ version, called SpeakUp, has so far been rolled out in the UK, Americas and Asia, with a view to eventually extending it to other offices.
HSF’s whistleblowing provision, called Faircall, is monitored by KPMG and allows employees to make contact by phone or email to report professional wrongdoing, harassment and other misconduct.
Both firms in particular have their own reasons for being seen to take a hard line on inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
Earlier this year, a court in Munich sentenced a former Linklaters partner to three years and three months in prison after sexually assaulting an intern at a corporate event in Germany in 2014.
Tax partner Thomas Elser assaulted the student after Linklaters’ Oktoberfest party in September 2014 before a former litigation partner of the firm, Laurenz Schmitt, stepped in and punched Elser in the face.
‘It has made us think about what best practice is everywhere. People should feel comfortable speaking up.’
Mark Rigotti, HSF
Schmitt reported Elser to the firm the following day and Linklaters started an internal investigation, which concluded with both partners leaving the firm with immediate effect.
The victim of the assault did not wish to press charges, but the two partners involved subsequently reported each other to the police. Schmitt himself received a seven-month suspended sentence for bodily harm last year.
Meanwhile, HSF was forced to fire an unnamed male partner in Australia after several female employees filed claims of harassment. The alleged perpetrator was ousted from the partnership in March.
While the policy changes had been in the pipeline several months prior to that scandal, the incident caused HSF to expedite their implementation.
On the Australian incident, chief executive Mark Rigotti (pictured) said: ‘It’s not a reaction to that circumstance, but that situation certainly sped things up a bit. There’s no doubt there’s a focus on the themes represented in the #MeToo movement at the moment. What it has done is make us think about what best practice is everywhere. People should feel comfortable coming forward and speaking up, and seeking help, whether that’s in the UK, Australia or anywhere.’
While Linklaters and HSF are currently the only firms to have introduced such measures, it seems unlikely that they will be the last.
If Latham & Watkins chair Bill Voge’s departure in March after ‘voluntary disclosures relating to personal conduct’ has taught the industry anything, it is that nobody is above reproach when it comes to sexual harassment allegations and it seems inevitable that more firms will be compelled to have proper measures in place to limit the damage.