Ex-Linklaters partner convicted for sex attack on student at firm party

A former Linklaters partner has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a student after the firm's Oktoberfest party in 2014.

Tax partner 'Thomas E' trapped the woman, who was interning at the firm, in a secluded corner of a restaurant's veranda following the office's annual 'After Wiesen' party. After verbally harassing her, he sexually assaulted the student, before another partner, litigation lawyer Laurenz Schmitt, intervened by punching Thomas E in the face.

The next day Schmitt reported Thomas E to the firm, stating that he had "punched that bastard in", triggering an internal investigation. Germany's then-Senior Partner Carl-Peter Feick conducted interviews in Munich before then-London Managing Partner Robert Elliot ordered Thomas E to the UK for extensive grilling by litigation partner Christa Band. When her investigation concluded, both partners left the firm with immediate effect.

The firm said it chose not to report Schmitt or Thomas E to the German authorities because the victim wanted no part in criminal proceedings. However, the partners subsequently reported each other to the police. In 2016 Schmitt was sentenced to seven months suspended for assaulting Thomas E. He argued that he punched the tax partner repeatedly in the face as an "emergency response".

Schmitt, perv-puncher

Thomas E was found guilty of sexual assault after standing trial in 2017. Over 40 witnesses were called including Feick, Elliot and several other Linklaters lawyers. Sentencing the former partner to three years and three months in prison, the judge said his victim had been "greatly harmed" by the assault, which led to the interruption of her studies and compelled her to enter therapy, and that she had "lost her happiness and trust in people".

A spokesman for Linklaters said, “We have always been mindful that there is a young student at the centre of this case. That concern has guided our behaviour and priorities throughout”.

Never shy to cover up a crime, German officials extended an injunction preventing publication of Thomas E's full name. His lawyer told RollOnFriday that he intended to appeal his conviction. It follows news of a partner's sexual assault of a junior lawyer at Baker McKenzie, and the dismissal of a Dentons partner for "inappropriate behaviour".

Comments

Schmitt deserves a bloody medal, not punishment for stepping in to protect someone.

Solving the wrong problem, again. Agreed, Schmitt should have been congratulated.

Why do you call it just "sexual assault"? The court found him guilty of raping (vergewaltigen) her.

I'm not sure why Schmitt was terminated, as others have already commented, he should be commended. No matter which country you are in, some of the results just seem unjust!

My understanding is that in German Law they use the term ‘rape’ to cover a wide range of sexual assaults, and that in this instance the assault did not constitute what one would describe as rape in the UK.

I would employ Schmitt. He seems hard done by here.

Anon@9:35: Some less classy publications couldn't help themselves and published the details of his assault. It would have been "assault by penetration" under English law..

The Law Society Gazette don't seem to have a problem with naming Mr E... https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/former-linklaters-partner-jailed-for-sexual-assault/5064857.article?utm_source=dispatch&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%20GAZ141016

anon@ 07:45: He wasn't protecting her at the time he hit him was the problem.

Interesting that you've failed to link to your original story that suggested this was just an argument over an intern. If you'd done a bit more digging at the time, you'd not only have uncovered the truth but that the rapey partner's colleagues gave him a fond farewell, decrying the fact they were forced to get rid of him.

Schmitt is a hero surely, why did he have to leave?

@ 21/2 14:06 - That tells you everything you need to know about the firm. And particularly the fact that Schmitt was pushed out first, whilst Mr E was only reluctantly let go by the group in question....

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