Biglaw

What To Do When A Serial Sexual Harasser Laterals To Your Biglaw Firm?

Speak up, before sexual harassment becomes something much worse.

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Welcome back to The Pink Ghetto, a series where we take a look at some of the most appalling stories from one of the most sexist industries in the world: the legal profession. Today, we have a story about a serial sexual harraser who has moved from Biglaw firm to Biglaw firm, racking up “HR issues” along the way. These are real emails that we’ve received from real readers.

When you see things like this happening, say something. Together, we can inspire the change necessary to stop this disturbing behavior from being so prevalent in the law. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations of women in the law.

I write to you today to tell you about a Biglaw partner, a well-known misogynist and sexual harasser who has bounced from one firm to another, riding the coattails of the competent lawyers around him while using his power to oppress and abuse women. He came to our firm under a cloud of suspicion that his departure was related to sexual misconduct at his prior firm. But it didn’t take long for his prologue to become present. He was horrifically misogynistic — condescending and abusive to women, chummy and respectful to men. He was known to subject young male associates to all manner of “locker room talk” about women. Despite being married, he conducted an extremely ill-concealed affair with a paralegal. This was all conducted in the open, and our firm tolerated it with rolled eyes. When he left for another firm, management was left to clean up what they politely called “an HR issue” in his wake.

There is nobody with an ear to the legal market who does not know who and what this man is. And when he rapes a summer associate someday, we will all say, “We knew something, but we never thought that would happen” — and we will all be lying.

Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto? Email me (subject line: “The Pink Ghetto”) or find me on Twitter, @StaciZaretsky. You will be kept anonymous. Submissions are always welcome.

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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