The Law Society Gazette reports
Aformer partner at City firm Bird & Bird’s Brussels office who abused his position by behaving inappropriately toward a subordinate has been barred from the profession for five years.
Takeshige Sugimoto admitted that, while in a position of seniority, he acted inappropriately towards a junior legal consultant who reported directly to him. Sugimoto, who is not a solicitor, admitted that while a registered foreign lawyer he pursued a course of conduct which he knew or ought to have known was inappropriate towards Person B and was sexually motivated.
In an agreed outcome between Sugimoto and the Solicitors Regulation Authority the lawyer admitted sending more than 900 WhatsApp messages that were inappropriate in volume and/or content and he had touched the colleague by ‘taking her hand and trying to hug her’.
This week’s substantive hearing, until Tuesday 27 August, was mainly heard in private yesterday morning. An agreed outcome, which included Sugimoto’s admissions and the section 43 sanction was accepted by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
