RollOnFriday understands that the DLA Piper partner who referred to women as "gash" is under investigation by the SRA.
Nick West was caught out when emails he sent to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore were leaked. In one email West complained about an in-house lawyer - "have spent all day fending Edna off my graphite shaft. She is terribly relentless isn’t she?!” In another he advised Scudamore to “save the cash in case you find some gash”.
Scudamore's PA was appalled by the exchanges. She leaked the emails to the press and West found himself hitting the headlines and had to issue a grovelling apology. But to the surprise of pretty much everyone, DLA took no action. It merely noted that it had "accepted Mr West's assurances that these emails are not reflective of his beliefs and values and that there will be no recurrence of this behaviour".
Insiders have told RollOnFriday that West had only escaped censure and/or the chop because he makes a ton of money for the firm and, therefore, none of his partners can touch him. The SRA has no such shackles and it will be interesting to see whether referring to women as "gash" in a work email, albeit one sent confidentially to a single recipient, is classed as appropriate behaviour for a partner at an international law firm.
Neither DLA Piper nor the SRA would comment.
Tip Off ROF
Nick West was caught out when emails he sent to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore were leaked. In one email West complained about an in-house lawyer - "have spent all day fending Edna off my graphite shaft. She is terribly relentless isn’t she?!” In another he advised Scudamore to “save the cash in case you find some gash”.
Scudamore's PA was appalled by the exchanges. She leaked the emails to the press and West found himself hitting the headlines and had to issue a grovelling apology. But to the surprise of pretty much everyone, DLA took no action. It merely noted that it had "accepted Mr West's assurances that these emails are not reflective of his beliefs and values and that there will be no recurrence of this behaviour".
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The Archbishop of Banterbury yesterday |
Insiders have told RollOnFriday that West had only escaped censure and/or the chop because he makes a ton of money for the firm and, therefore, none of his partners can touch him. The SRA has no such shackles and it will be interesting to see whether referring to women as "gash" in a work email, albeit one sent confidentially to a single recipient, is classed as appropriate behaviour for a partner at an international law firm.
Neither DLA Piper nor the SRA would comment.
Comments
LOL at the Archbishop pic.
What next, an SRA investigation everytime a lawyer swears? I said "bloody hell" while driving in my car the other day so by these standards I guess I deserve to be struck off.
If Edna the in house lawyer is persistent over a legal issue then good for her. I doube she was after his penis.
Secondly he is suggesting it is normal or fine that men pay for sex. perhaps some are so ugly they cannot get it any other way but it's not appropriate. I have practised for 30 years made a lot of money and never had to write to clients in those terms in order to get or keep their work. He is way out of order and also it shows total lack of understanding. Everything we write to clients might well come out in court in disclosure some day. He has he no brain?
From my time working at DLA I’m not at all surprised by their attempt to sweep this incident under the carpet. Profit is king for a firm who has sacrificed its identity at the altar of corporate growth… with its moral compass seemingly also being lost in the process. When these reports first emerged all staff were reminded not to talk about this unsavoury incident with anyone outside of the firm – the corporate version of “Shhhhh, this will be our little secret…”.
And when did the SRA start investigating/propose to finish investigating?
Is it another case of the SRA carefully making sure the stable door is padlocked? Whether the chap deserves it or not, justice delayed is, well... you guys know the rest.