A solicitor who bragged about being a 'top lawyer from Manchester' has been struck off after he bombarded three women with a string of lewd messages. Michael Peter Alexander, 63, was removed from the solicitors roll and ordered to pay £75,000 in costs for 'deliberate, repeated and persistent' misconduct.
Explicit messages to barrister
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that between April and May 2022, while employed by Harwood Solicitors in Blackburn, Lancs, Mr Alexander sent several WhatsApp messages to a barrister at the firm, referred to as Person A. They included references to her 'big bad a**' and 'big butt'.
Person A repeatedly told him the messages were inappropriate and asked him to stop. One exchange included Mr Alexander asking 'You in bed? Xx How's p****? Xx' and 'Need you to bend over xx'. Person A replied: 'I'm sorry Mike. It's not banter. Your messages are always sexually charged. And it's made me very uncomfortable.'
When Person A complained to the firm, Mr Alexander made a counter-complaint about her 'lack of professionalism'.
Messages to job seeker and LinkedIn contact
In August 2023, while employed at Russell & Russell Solicitors LLP and other firms, Mr Alexander sent 'sexualised GIFs', late night and early hours WhatsApp and Facebook messages, and left voicemails to a woman referred to as Person B, who had contacted him via LinkedIn seeking a PA job. One message read 'Gonna enjoy chasing your pert butt you're fab xxx', and a voicemail said 'Will you let me squeeze your arse while you are my PA, and er let me flirt with you, that'll be fun'.
Person B asked him to stop, said she was in a relationship, and noted her children used her phone. When she said she no longer wished to work for him, he replied: 'But I wanted you to suck my c*** xxx.' During an investigation, Mr Alexander said Person B's statement was 'full of lies, inconsistencies, discrepancies and downright slander'.
Between February 28 and March 2, 2024, Mr Alexander also messaged a third woman, Person C, 'out of the blue' on LinkedIn to ask if she was 'free for lunch'. When she asked if they knew each other, he replied: 'No but I'm a top lawyer from Manchester.' He continued messaging her despite her indicating she was 'heavily pregnant', until she blocked him two days later.
Tribunal outcome
Lydia Barnworthy, representing the Solicitors Regulation Authority, told the tribunal Mr Alexander's 'explicit sexual comments' were 'offensive and degrading', and that he had abused his position as a solicitor in a clear imbalance of power. Mr Alexander's representative, Douglas, said the messages were 'unpleasant and offensive' but fell short of the 'worst sexual impropriety', and that his judgement was affected by his father's death in 2023 and earlier losses of his business, marriage, and house.
The tribunal struck Mr Alexander off the solicitors roll and ordered him to pay £75,000 in costs.
