Former Linklaters partner sent to jail over sexual assault at Oktoberfest party in Munich
A former Linklaters partner who was charged with sexual assault will go to jail after he lost an appeal against his sentence.
Thomas Elser, a former tax partner in the magic circle firm’s Munich office, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison by a Munich court in February last year.
On Tuesday Elser lost his appeal. Linklaters declined to comment.
Elser was found to have assaulted an intern at Linklaters’ Oktoberfest party in September 2014. He was reported to the firm by another partner, Laurenz Schmitt, who was also charged with physically assaulting Elser following the fallout at the event. The two partners were discharged from the firm with immediate effect.
The case in Munich has proven to be a headache for the magic circle firm.
Earlier this week it was granted a temporary injunction against a former employee who threatened to disclose information about Linklaters' alleged "ongoing struggle with women".
Linklaters' former director of business development and marketing Frank Mellish threatened to disclose internal information after his contract with the firm was terminated last month.
In an email to the firm's senior partner, Mellish stated that he intended to "share my impressions of the current culture at Linklaters" and "the ongoing struggle Linklaters has with women in the workplace". He said he would be giving interviews to the media in in February, but did not disclose the names of any titles.
In the email Mellish made references to three "specific examples" which he claimed would "demonstrate the Linklaters culture" – the “Munich incident”, the “NY settlement” and the “London Settlement”.
Linklaters argued that the terms of Mellish's contract restricted the publication of confidential information relating to the firm, its clients, its partners or employees.
It said an injunction was necessary to protect the identities of those concerned but did not seek to block Mellish from expressing his general views about the Magic Circle firm’s culture.
A Linklaters spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the firm sought and has been granted an interim injunction in the terms set out in the judgment handed down by the court. We cannot comment further.”
A full hearing has been set for 11 February.