Manuel Lopez-Martinez

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

Dr Manuel Lopez-Martinez, a Registered Foreign Lawyer and partner/Head of Regulatory in Ashurst LLP's Madrid office, faced SRA proceedings for inappropriate, unwanted and sexually motivated conduct towards two female colleagues (Persons A and B) between December 2018 and July 2021. The Tribunal rejected his jurisdictional challenges (holding the SRA had jurisdiction because Ashurst LLP was an SRA-regulated recognised body and he was a manager/partner under s.43 of the Solicitors Act 1974). It found proved that he entered Person A's bed uninvited, touched her and made sexualised comments (1.1.1(b)-(d)), and pursued a sustained inappropriate course of conduct towards Person B including unwanted physical contact, attempted kisses and sexual messages (all of allegation 1.2). Some sub-allegations were found not proved. The Tribunal found sexual motivation for the conduct towards both women and abuse of position for one incident (1.1.2(c)), but made no finding of dishonesty. It determined the conduct made it undesirable for him to be involved in legal practice and imposed a Section 43(2) Order, ordering him to pay costs of £61,561.48.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No unlawful discrimination or harassment
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Sexual motivation found in respect of conduct towards Person A (allegation 1.1.1) and Person B (allegation 1.2)
• Abuse of position found in respect of allegation 1.1.2(c) (using seniority as a partner to engage a junior colleague who felt unable to refuse)
• Conduct took place over an extended period and involved two separate victims
• Conduct towards Person A could amount to a criminal offence in England and Wales

Mitigating factors:

• Delay - conduct had taken place approximately 7 years earlier, hindering his ability to adduce evidence
• No previous disciplinary matters
• Eventual participation in the proceedings after the jurisdiction determination