When paralegals go bad.
Walker Morris has won an injunction against a former employee to stop him sending deeply disturbing messages to its senior lawyers and their children, RollOnFriday can reveal.
The solicitor, whom ROF is identifying as ‘BL’, was sacked by Walker Morris for gross misconduct in 2020 after working at the Leeds-based firm for five years.
Last year, Walker Morris lawyers suddenly started hearing from their ex-colleague again, and not in a good way.
One frightening message from BL said, “The violence is inevitable, it's just making sure I get the right person and family. So you can imagine how much violence is about to ensue”.
The firm reported him to the police, but the threats continued.
BL even began contacting the children of Walker Morris lawyers, sending them abusive messages accusing them of involvement in a bizarre conspiracy. In one message to a woman in her early 20s who is the daughter of a senior Walker Morris lawyer, he wrote, “Why are you and your dad hacking my phone and stopping me working in law…weird little cunt”.
Despite Walker Morris' attempts to de-escalate BL’s conduct, the messages continued and the firm finally applied to court for an injunction against harassment, which was granted on Tuesday.
Indicating that compliance may be an issue, before the hearing BL sent an email to a Walker Morris leader copying in other staff which stated, “that all you got Hitler?”
The ball on this guy.
A spokesperson for Walker Morris told ROF, "In order to ensure the safety of our people and due to the ongoing actions of the individual, we were left with no option but to involve the police and obtain an injunction. Given the ongoing police investigation and pending litigation, we cannot comment further".
Firms ping LawyerUp when they like you for a role. It's available on the App Store and Google Play.
Comments
13
8
I thought HotBlack had been quiet recently
17
3
Jesus Christ
55
46
This is clearly someone having a really unfortunate mental health episode - not sure the somewhat mocking tone of this one is appropriate / necessary.
47
8
Surely a mental illness issue
41
14
Yes, 9:11, ROF should really be sympathising with him for threatening people.
12
16
Didn’t WM get done for racism recently?
7
21
There has to be more context. Surely someone doesn’t just lash out like this for no reason
62
8
S_M - I’m sure you mean well, but suffering what you rather patronisingly call ‘unfortunate mental health episodes’ is never an excuse for harassment or threats of violence.
I say this as someone who has suffered from mental health problems in the past and is tired of seeing it pulled out as a get-out-of-jail-free card for all kinds of horrific behaviour.
20
7
9:57, I’m guessing the ‘context’ is that they were sacked and mad about it.
11
31
M_S - your own experiences may not be the same as others. It’s not an excuse but an important consideration and we should be empathetic where mental illness is concerned.
9
5
Is the injunction public record? Would be an interesting read…
29
6
The Burghers of RoF are so weird with their choice of sympathies. Some weeks they're dyed in the wool hangers and floggers, who can't forgive a few grand out of the client account to buy a foolish secretary a holiday and think she should be shot. The next week they're looking for 'context' to excuse threats to massacre someone's family. Like, do we believe in this death penalty stuff or not guys?
30
8
I agree 10:07. Walker Morris shouldn’t have reported him to the police. They should have paid him reparations for causing him grief and funded a support animal.
8
10
MORE CONTEXT NEEDED.
7
15
There will be another side to this story, NO doubt...
17
5
BL is in these comments.
19
5
Sounds like Real Estate might have been the wrong choice of department for this dude. Had they put him in some kind of Litigation role it sounds like he would have thrived.
1
7
So has he waited 3 years to start threatening them???!!!
6
10
I posted a comment about some of the culture at WM (as an ex employee) and RoF censored it. Why?
8
5
I thought WBD were the lowest point within the profession, but it’s actually this character.
17
10
The number of people in the comments section defending the guy is absolutely baffling, no wonder the UK has become a soft touch country
5
8
People just need to let go. If you lose a job even if you aren't happy about it something good can come of it - just move on, forget it. It is completely unacceptable to accuse firm's child of things.
11
8
Hard agree with Mssr We're Cooked, no idea how people are defending this guy. He ought to be given a thorough kicking by some large law enforcement professionals, bunged in a lightless pit alongside the most tedious Just Stop Oil dorks we can find, fed bread and water once a day, and given no less than ninety days of that before we bring him up for a trial of some kind.
6
4
Someone’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic
5
6
I know WM real estate partners can give you these kinds of feelings but most of us vent with a snide tone in our next email
7
14
You can imagine what the firm did to him for him to end up behaving this way (not justifying it). They must have been cruel to him. He needs to just move on.
1
4
Conduct unbecoming I think..
1
5
Top notch caption on the Hitler photo ROF
4
5
Do you think they hacked his phone, and tried to run him over? Anyway, Roll on Friday seem complicit…
4
1
If the speculation about mental health is right, why is that WM’s problem? They don’t employ BL… if I worked for WM, I’d rather they looked after my interests than the ex-employee threatening me.
2
3
I believe him, BL of Ashford Court.