#lawtwitter #appellatetwitter The problem: until the legal profession's culture undergoes some changes, this is going to be a problem. Let me tell you a little story about representing a female partner who accused a senior partner of sexual harassment 1/
I send a demand letter to the firm's managing partner. A few days later I receive a call from an outside attorney, who focused in plaintiff's law, saying he represents the firm and that we should mediate the case. Great. So we select a mediator and go mediate at a 2/
neutral site in another town -on a Sunday. All very hush-hush. The mediator was a woman who spent 30 years on the bench at the trial and appellate levels - we felt good about our chances of early resolution. But, for some damn reason, the firm brought the senior 3/
partner who had been accused of all of this stuff (and we had emails, it ain't like he could say it never happened). The mediation was a total waste of time. We couldn't make any headway. At 7pm I said "screw it" and we bounced. On my way out the door, the firm's outside 4/
counsel grabbed me and said "just call me tomorrow morning. Don't do anything, ok?" So I said alright. Called him - the managing partner and the risk committee had authorized a settlement that was five times anything they would offer in that mediation. That was acceptable 5/
to the client. I asked what in the hell happened at the mediation. The accused partner was throwing himself across the tracks, and swearing up and down that he could wear down my client, and that she would never really file suit out of fear. About a month later I 6/
mediated another case with the same mediator. She pulled me into the hallway and asked if the matter with the law firm had settled. I said it had. She responded "thank God," and told me that the senior partner had been calling her "honey," "sweetie," and had winked at 7/
her on multiple occasions - all of this in front of the firm's managing partner, outside counsel, and two members of the risk committee. Obviously, everyone in the room knew that was incredibly inappropriate but not one person opened their damn mouth - even though this guy 8/
was actually their subordinate! He is still a senior partner at this firm. My client left private practice for government work. I realized there that the harasser was not the problem - it was all the men who knew better who wouldn't say anything about it. Until those 9/
folks are willing to get involved, right to someone's face, I don't see this problem getting much better anytime soon. 10/10
