Asians, Biglaw, Sex, Sex Scandals, United Kingdom / Great Britain

Lawyer of the Day: Lord Peter Goldsmith

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Last week, we mentioned in passing the news that the former U.K. Attorney-General, Lord Peter Goldsmith, QC, is joining Debevoise & Plimpton. Lord Goldsmith will head up Debevoise’s European litigation practice.
The Times of London reported the news here, and the WSJ Law Blog posted on the move here. But both write-ups omitted the most notable part of Lord Goldsmith’s resume (as mentioned by a WSJ commenter):

On 17 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith, who is married, had been having an affair with Kim Hollis, Britain’s first Asian QC.

Good stuff. And more dirty details, after the jump.


From the Daily Mail:

The Government was hit by a second legal marital scandal last night after it was revealed that Attorney General Lord Goldsmith had an affair with Britain’s leading Asian woman barrister.

Cabinet Minister Lord Goldsmith, who is in charge of prosecutions and is Tony Blair’s senior legal adviser, confirmed that he had an extra-marital affair with attractive Anglo-Indian lawyer Kim Hollis.

She is attractive, isn’t she? Although apparently she’s been getting make-up advice from Harriet Miers.

‘My wife knows all about this and has done for a long time,’ the Labour peer said in a statement to The Mail on Sunday. This is a private matter and my wife and I have no further comment.’

Divorced mother of two Mrs Hollis, who is nearly ten years younger than 57-year-old Lord Goldsmith, was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College. She became Britain’s first Asian QC in 2002 when she was made a silk’ by Lord Goldsmith’s Cabinet colleague and friend, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer.

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“Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer”? Wow. Everything is cooler in England.

[Kim Hollis] has worked on high-profile prosecutions including that of a man who stole Victoria Beckham’s luggage including her underwear at Heathrow airport in 2001.

Very impressive — Hollis is quite the legal eagle. And she has the pricey property to prove it:

A month after [her] divorce, Mrs Hollis bought a £1.5 million home in nearby Fulham. The property is made of two houses knocked into one.

And what about the Goldsmiths’ marriage? Did Lord Goldsmith abandon his wife to shack up with Kim Hollis in her $3 million house?

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Lord Goldsmith yesterday interrupted a visit to a legal conference in California to confirm his affair with Mrs Hollis.

‘It is all in the past and we are both very happy,’ he said, referring to his wife Joy, also 57, who is accompanying him to the conference.

At first we worried about the “fit” between a quintessentially British lawyer and a quintessentially American law firm. But given his history of infidelity, Lord Goldsmith should fit right in at Biglaw.
Lord Goldmsith takes senior London role at Debevoise & Plimpton [Times of London]
Law Blog Q&A: Debevoise’s Rivkin on Lord Goldsmith’s CV [WSJ Law Blog]
EXCLUSIVE: Another law chief admits affair with barrister [Daily Mail]
Lord Goldsmith admits affair with barrister [News of the World]

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