Controversies
In 2006 Clayton Utz was investigated by the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions, having been alleged to have engaged in criminal conduct during the course of the 2002 litigation brought by Rolah McCabe. During the course of the trial it was revealed that Clayton Utz ran a "document retention policy" which involved "getting rid of everything that was damaging in a way that would not rebound on the company or the British American Tobacco Group as a whole". This included incriminating documents that outlined the extent of BAT's knowledge of the health effects of smoking. Glenn Eggleton, a former managing partner of the firm, was said to have given evidence that was "potentially perjurious".
An appeal against the ruling of the Supreme Court of Victoria in the matter of McCabe v BATAS was upheld by the Victorian Court of Appeal which exonerated Clayton Utz of any wrongdoing in relation to advice given by the firm to BATAS in relation to document management. In 2002 Clayton Utz closed its tobacco claims litigation practice
In 2011, Clayton Utz was subject to a sexual harassment claim after allegations of inappropriate emails being circulated among graduate lawyers in the firm about a female graduate lawyer. The lawyer in question referred to female co-workers as "crazy single female chicks" who "just need a good **** to get them back to normal". In making an order, McCallum J noted "It is difficult to decide whether it is more surprising that the remarks were made at all (after over a century of feminism) or that a lawyer recorded them in an email (after over seven centuries of subpoenas)."
Clayton Utz was found not liable for the emails as there was no way the "partners of Clayton Utz ought reasonably to have prevented such correspondence",. The lawyer in question resigned shortly after the case was settled.
The Partner in Charge of the Sydney office spoke to Lawyers Weekly commenting that, "My experience is that it's a very supportive environment - and my experience is very supportive of that," said Jordan, who was made a partner of the firm one decade ago while on maternity leave after the birth of the first of her three children. "I have been personally very disappointed about how we have been portrayed in the media."
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