NZ's First #MeToo Case Wants To Practise Law Again
James Gardner-Hopkins has applied for a practising certificate.
Hi,
Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.
The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:
As well as intimate touching with a student at his home, a few days earlier the partner had inappropriately touched four other students at the work Christmas party.
The women said he touched bottoms, breasts, and/or tried to kiss them.
Back then he was found guilty by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal on six charges of professional misconduct involving five different women.
A month later, three High Court judges added another year to his two year suspension:
The judges said his conduct in 2015, when the events took place, was serious, exploitative, sexual misconduct. It was not the conduct of a fit and proper person to be a lawyer, they said.
At the time he was the first New Zealander to come under the spotlight of the #MeToo movement — a movement that created a lot of headlines, but has been the subject of debate as to how much change it actually made.
I got to thinking about this again this week, as I noticed James Gardner-Hopkins has applied to start practicing law again:
I am curious what will happen in this case.
Back in February of 2022, the Law Society had asked the tribunal to strike Gardner-Hopkins off entirely. That didn’t happen — but he ended up being suspended for two years, before another year was added, taking it to a maximum suspension period of three years.
Now those three years are up. And James wants back in the game.
From what I can tell, the tribunal doesn’t get many of these cases.
At the time of his suspension in 2022, Webworm understands there had only been two previous sexual misconduct cases considered by the Tribunal (both of which involved “relationships” with vulnerable clients).
James Gardner-Hopkins’ case involved interns at the firm.
“The question of what to do at the end of that period of suspension remains open,” says Tess Upperton, founding member of the Aotearoa Legal Workers’ Union.
She went on:
“The basic test for a practising certificate is whether you are a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold a practising certificate, so you'd need evidence that you’ve sorted your shit out.
It’s also an issue of safety.
As a senior lawyer with a practising certificate, Mr Gardner-Hopkins was in a position to abuse his substantial power. He did so, repeatedly, over an extended period of time with multiple people.
Since that privilege was removed, he has shown a tendency to defend and justify his actions rather than reflect and properly engage with those consequences. How should lawyers feel about working alongside him? Or for him?”
She went on:
“In general, the Law Society needs to take the standards expected of lawyers seriously. The public needs to be able to trust that the profession will do the right thing in circumstances this egregious.
They need to know when they walk into a lawyer's office that that person has been fully vetted and deemed a fit and proper person by a competent regulator.
Otherwise, that relationship between lawyers and the public is only going to erode further since the damage it suffered in 2018, when his behaviour first came to light.”
Like all media outlets, Webworm exists — in part — to keep those in power accountable. As I think about “power”, I find myself thinking about both the Law Society and Gardner-Hopkins. As Upperton told me, “When Mr Gardner-Hopkins was suspended, the Law Society president said that “the onus is squarely on him to prove he is fit and proper to be a lawyer again”.
James Gardner-Hopkins misconduct mostly related to inappropriate sexual behaviour at a Christmas party in Wellington in 2015:
His lawyer said he had worked hard to manage workload and stress and had avoided using alcohol as a relief.
At the time of the incident, alcohol and intoxication was involved.
Given that, it would probably be worth Gardner-Hopkins’ reconsidering his social media posts, and tagged photos, before looking to get his practicing certificate back again.
The deadline for comments on his application is by 5pm tomorrow. Webworm has reached out to Gardner-Hopkins for comment.
David.
This is brilliant. Having being heavily involved in all of this for the past 6 years, I have very strong feelings about it. It is not just done the crime, done the time, all is now OK. Character doesn't change. Steph
That last photo is chilling.