The law firm said the partner, who was accused of sexual misconduct on social media, is on leave
Fasken has launched an investigation into one of its partners after a series of TikToks alleging he sent an unsolicited sexual picture to an acquaintance went viral.
The firm told Canadian Lawyer on Wednesday that Patrick Sullivan, who joined Fasken’s global mining, capital markets and M&A group in May, is currently on leave.
“Fasken was recently made aware of an allegation involving one of our lawyers, Patrick Sullivan, in a personal context,” Fasken spokesperson Stephanie Weinstein said in a statement.
“We take this matter seriously and have appointed a third-party investigator to conduct an independent review.”
In a TikTok posted this week, a user identified as Laila Rose alleged that Sullivan sent her an “unwanted photo” over the weekend.
“He practices law at Fasken law in Vancouver,” Rose said. “Don’t be like Patrick, boys – don’t be a public lawyer, a new husband, and send your thing to a woman who doesn’t want to see it. It’s disgusting.”
Rose posted multiple follow-up TikToks this week, including one featuring a picture of herself and Sullivan in 2011, whom she said she knew because he used to frequent a nightclub she previously worked at. Another featured a screen recording that allegedly showed a conversation between herself and Sullivan’s wife, while another TikTok posted late on Wednesday showed an email that Fasken sent to Rose. The email provided information about Lisa Southern, an investigator with Southern Butler Price, whom the firm hired to investigate Sullivan.
Rose, who asked not to be identified by her real last name, told Canadian Lawyer that her communication with Sullivan has been sporadic over the years, and that their messages were typically confined to "casual small talk" or "political small talk." She says she filed a complaint about Sullivan with the Law Society of British Columbia on Monday. The LSBC confirmed receiving the complaint and says it is reviewing the matter. Rose says she also notified the RCMP.
"I am a housewife, I am not a powerful person, I don't have familial connections, I am not in a corporate world," Rose says. "I just felt that someone like me, being targeted by someone who is a partner at a law firm where you can Google his face needed to be brought into the light, as opposed to me having to suffer the trauma of having that happen to me and just stay silent."
She adds, "I am happy that Fasken has taken this step to hire a third party to at least look into this. It is the appropriate way to go about this."
Sullivan did not provide a comment to Canadian Lawyer by publication time.
Prior to joining Fasken this spring, Sullivan was a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the LSBC received Rose's complaint.
