Selva Ramasamy KC (instructed by Iain Miller and Georgia Rose, Kingsley Napley) acted for the managing partner of a City law firm in proceedings brought in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
The partner faced an allegation of kissing a junior female lawyer without consent at a work event in late 2020. The event had been arranged during a relaxation of pandemic lockdown restrictions, and a lot of alcohol had been consumed by those present. The defence case was that the kiss was initiated by the junior female, and had been consensual. Selva and the defence team conducted careful analysis of the circumstances of the event, and of the accounts given by the complainant after it, including in reports to others and in messages sent on social media.
The hearing spanned four days. After hearing closing submissions which set out the defence analysis, the Tribunal dismissed the allegations.
Selva Ramasamy KC