A senior BLP partner has apologised for his attendance at an all-male charity event at which hostesses were harassed and fondled. But the firm has declined to disclose the extent of his involvement.

Graham Shear, Head of International Commercial Disputes, was one of seven committee members of the Presidents Club. Shear was seated on a table with a number of high profile attendees including the Club's co-chair David Meller and Lord Mendelsohn. The Labour peer has since been effectively sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for attending the event.  

Scandalous details of the evening were exposed by the Financial Times after undercover journalists witnessed guests sexually harassing, groping and propositioning female hostesses. (Un)funnyman David Walliams hosted a charity auction which included a night at the Windmill strip club in Soho, and plastic surgery which was advertised with the slogan “Add spice to your wife”.

A BLP spokesman told RollOnFriday that Shear was "extremely embarrassed and deeply regrets his attendance and any association with the dinner and apologises unreservedly". He added that the department head "recognises that such events are inconsistent" with the firm's "values and beliefs". However, the firm declined to disclose how many of the annual events Shear had attended. Or whether he had spotted or raised concerns about the inappropriate treatment of hostesses. Or how many (if any) BLP clients were invited to the events. 

"I was only on the host table and the steering committee for an unspecified number of years."

The Presidents Club annual report stated that BLP was the charity’s principal legal adviser. BLP's spokesman said that  was incorrect, but confirmed that the firm had “done occasional pieces of work for this charity on a pro bono basis, as we do for a number of other registered charities". At the gala, organisers rushed hostesses to sign a five page non-disclosure agreement. BLP told RollOnFriday that neither the firm or Shear had anything to do with the NDAs.