Justice Minister Andrew Little says there's a need for improvement in the legal profession following the release of a report which found, a culture of excessive drinking is being blamed for alleged incidents of sexual harassment at law firm Russell McVeagh.
Andrew Little says his specific interest is in the Law Society and whether it has the right powers and capability to respond to claims of wrongful conduct towards employees of law firms.
In a press conference this morning Russell McVeagh said they accept the findings in the report, they said they were deeply sorry and have apologised to the young women for the hurt and damage caused. The firm will also implement all of the recommendations made in the report and they have done so already.
Russell McVeagh board chair Malcolm Crotty said, "I want to acknowledge that our handling of the incidents was poor and to apologise for both our actions and inactions. We could've done much better and we should've done much better."
250 were interviewed about allegations pertaining to five summer clerks who were sexually harassed over the summer in 2015 and 2016.
It found Russell McVeagh had a 'work hard, play hard' culture that involved excessive drinking and in some instances crude, drunken, and sexually inappropriate behaviour.