Lewis Brady

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Lewis Brady, a solicitor at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, faced allegations of unwanted/inappropriate/sexually motivated conduct towards two female colleagues at social events. Of nine allegations, the Tribunal found two proved on the balance of probabilities: touching Person A's bottom on 20 October 2021, and touching Person B's breast under her clothing on three occasions during a taxi journey on 24-25 March 2022. Both incidents were found to be non-consensual, inappropriate and sexually motivated, breaching Principles 2 and 5. The Paragraph 1.2 Code breach (abuse of position) was not proved as there was no power imbalance. The Tribunal did not make an express finding of dishonesty. He was suspended for 12 months. Costs originally fixed at £95,389.92 were reduced to £30,000 by consent on appeal to the High Court on 27 January 2026.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Sexual nature of the misconduct
• Involved separate complaints from two victims
• Significant impact on both victims (Person A sought psychological help; Person B's marital and work relationships affected)

Mitigating factors:

• Relatively young solicitor
• Worked in a 'work hard, play hard' culture with heavy drinking and boundary-pushing as accepted social interaction
• Events occurred shortly after national lockdown
• Unblemished regulatory record
• Positive character references
• Significant personal impact of proceedings (depression, suicidal thoughts)
• Expressed regret