Biglaw

Biglaw Giant Continues To Clean House After Bullying Allegations

More fallout.

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It wasn’t that long ago that we told you about the Baker McKenzie partner who, ahem, moved on from the mega Biglaw firm following bullying allegations. The allegations against Morne van der Merwe, the onetime managing partner of the firm’s Johannesburg office, included current and former employees saying he “bullied,” “demeaned,” and “degraded” them. And it looks like there’s even more fallout from the scandal.

As reported by Jamie Hamilton at Roll on Friday, two other members of the Baker McKenzie leadership team are out. Wildu du Plessis, the now-former head of Baker McKenzie’s Global Africa Practice, and Bruce Schubach, the soon-to-be-former Director of Africa Operations, are on their way out the door. Du Plessis, Schubach, and van der Merwe were reportedly known as “the three musketeers” in the Johannesburg office, fueling speculation about their exit from the firm.

But Baker McKenzie is keeping its public statement to the mere fact of their departures, with an noticeable absence of thanks for their efforts:

Asked this week whether the other two had embraced the spirit of ‘all for one, one for all’ and followed van der Merwe, a spokesperson told RollOnFriday, “Wildu du Plessis has stepped down as a Principal of Baker McKenzie and, with effect from 10 September 2021, as a director and shareholder of Baker McKenzie Inc in Johannesburg. He will leave the Firm on 30 September 2021″.

He confirmed that Schubach would be leaving on 24 September.

None of three was publicly thanked for their service, in what represents an extraordinary clear out of the management of Baker McKenzie’s South Africa operation.

Hopefully the firm can now put this unfortunate chapter behind them.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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