Baker McKenzie Lawsuit: Radford’s Sexual Assault Claims

Former Baker McKenzie tax associate Brooke Radford sued the firm and its Washington, D.C., managing partner Maurice Bellan in January 2026, accusing Bellan of sexual assault and harassment and the firm of firing her in retaliation. Her complaint landed months after Baker McKenzie and Bellan had already sued her for defamation over LinkedIn posts making similar accusations. Both cases are now moving through D.C. Superior Court at the same time, with Radford representing herself in each.¹

What Radford Alleges

Radford filed her complaint on January 22, 2026, in D.C. Superior Court (Case No. 2026-CAB-000465). She brings five claims under D.C. law: hostile work environment, quid pro quo sexual harassment, wrongful termination in violation of public policy, and retaliation under the D.C. Human Rights Act, plus assault and battery against Bellan personally.²

The complaint alleges Bellan pulled Radford onto him on a couch at his home, subjected her to unwanted physical contact, and appeared naked in a hotel room while she was present. It also says Bellan repeatedly pressured her toward a romantic relationship with his son, Reece, whom she met in December 2023 during Reece’s visit to the D.C. office. According to Radford, Bellan came to her office in November 2024 and offered her $50,000 “for a grandchild,” saying he could “incentivize” her being with Reece. At a firm Christmas party the same year, she says Bellan remarked that he essentially “owned her body” and would “get her back adjusted when she birthed a grandchild for him.”²

Radford says she rejected the pressure in March 2025, telling Bellan she and Reece were “not compatible romantically.” She alleges her June 2025 firing was retaliation for that rejection and for refusing Bellan’s own advances. She also says the firm withheld money from her final paycheck and disabled her corporate credit card before she left, leaving her to cover work travel costs herself.²

What Baker McKenzie and Bellan Allege

The firm’s version of events began playing out publicly on September 16, 2025, when Radford started posting on LinkedIn, accusing Bellan of sexually assaulting her and other employees and claiming firm leadership had covered it up. The firm’s outside counsel contacted her the next day asking her to stop and offering to discuss her claims; she refused. By September 19, Baker McKenzie counted at least 83 posts or comments it considered defamatory, with some already reposted on Reddit.³

Baker McKenzie and Bellan sued Radford for defamation that same day in D.C. Superior Court (Case No. 2025-CAB-006587), seeking damages, injunctive relief, and an anti-stalking civil protection order. The firm calls her accusations “false, defamatory and malicious” and says she never reported any sexual assault or harassment through internal channels while employed.⁴

The firm says Radford was fired for cause. An internal investigation during April and May 2025, according to the defamation complaint, turned up more than 100 unauthorized personal purchases on her firm-issued credit card, including clothing, first-class airfare, food delivery, and ride-share charges. The firm says she refused to cooperate with the investigation and was terminated effective July 7, 2025.³

A refiled complaint dated October 2, 2025, adds a retribution theory: Baker McKenzie alleges Radford and Reece Bellan had a two-year relationship that ended shortly before her firing. The firm points to a July 31, 2025, text in which Radford told Bellan she would tell the next person who contacted her on his behalf that he “offered me $50,000 to have your grandchild then fired me because I chose not to,” ending with, “I suggest you call it quits before I let everyone know everything.”⁵

Restraining Orders and Post-Firing Conflict

On September 21, 2025, two days after filing the defamation suit, Bellan obtained a temporary restraining order barring Radford from contacting him or entering Baker McKenzie’s D.C. office, based on allegations of stalking.⁵ Radford’s later complaint says Bellan obtained a second restraining order as well, though the details have not been publicly reported.¹

Radford, for her part, alleges Bellan stalked her and posted her home address online, on top of suing her twice and pursuing the restraining orders.²

Where the Cases Stand

On January 16, 2026, Radford moved to dismiss the defamation suit under D.C.’s anti-SLAPP statute, calling it a “classic Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation” meant to silence her.⁶ The law lets a defendant sued over speech on a matter of public interest seek early dismissal, pause discovery, and potentially recover litigation costs.⁷

Baker McKenzie opposed the motion. At a May 29, 2026, hearing, a firm attorney argued the defamation case should proceed, contending Radford’s accusations were false and made with “malice.” The court had not ruled on the motion to dismiss as of that hearing.⁸ In a February 2026 filing, the firm told the court that Radford’s public allegations had caused “client fallout,” with several clients asking that Bellan stop performing legal work for them.⁹

Radford has represented herself throughout both cases.¹⁰

Who the Parties Are

Maurice Bellan is the managing partner of Baker McKenzie’s Washington, D.C., office and sits on the firm’s Global Dispute Resolution Steering Committee and North America Litigation and Government Enforcement Steering Committee.¹¹ Before joining the firm in September 2015, he spent more than fifteen years as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice, focused on fraud, anti-corruption, and government investigations.¹² He was named a finalist for the National Law Journal’s “DC Managing Partner of the Year” in September 2025, days before Radford’s LinkedIn posts went public.¹³ Bellan and the firm deny Radford’s allegations.⁴

Brooke Radford worked as a tax associate in the D.C. office until her termination in June 2025. The firm says she was fired for misusing a corporate credit card; she says she was fired for rejecting Bellan’s advances.¹⁰

Prior Harassment Cases Involving the Firm

Baker McKenzie has been the subject of high-profile harassment litigation before. In Weeks v. Baker & McKenzie, a San Francisco jury in 1994 awarded former secretary Rena Weeks $7.1 million in punitive damages after finding the firm knew about a pattern of harassment by partner Martin Greenstein and failed to act. Evidence at trial showed at least eight prior complaints against Greenstein. A trial judge reduced the punitive award to $3.5 million, and a California appellate court upheld that amount in a unanimous 1998 decision, finding the firm “consistently failed to take measures reasonably designed to protect women from Greenstein’s abuse.”¹⁴ The California Supreme Court declined review. At the time it was described as the largest sexual harassment verdict ever awarded to an individual plaintiff in the United States.¹⁵

More recently, the firm faced U.K. regulatory action over its handling of allegations against former London managing partner Gary Senior, accused of forcing a kiss on a junior colleague in a hotel room. A U.K. legal regulator called the firm’s investigation a “complete collective failure,” and the matter was prosecuted before a disciplinary tribunal involving Senior, the firm, its former HR director, and another former partner.¹⁶ A separate internal review by outside firm Simmons & Simmons found “a number of shortcomings” in Baker McKenzie’s response to a sexual assault by another senior partner against a female solicitor, which had been resolved through a confidential settlement years earlier. The firm afterward introduced a code of business conduct, an independent reporting hotline, mandatory harassment training, and designated “First Point of Contact” roles in each office.¹⁷

1
Bloomberg Law. Ex-Baker McKenzie Lawyer Sues Firm, DC Leader for Sexual Assault
2
Above the Law. Radford v. Baker McKenzie Complaint
3
Above the Law. Baker McKenzie Defamation Complaint
4
Bloomberg Law. Baker McKenzie Sues Ex-Associate Accusing Firm’s DC Head of Sex Assault
5
Bloomberg Law. Baker McKenzie Says Fired Lawyer’s Lies Are Retribution
6
Bloomberg Tax. Ex-Baker McKenzie Lawyer Wants Sex Assault Defamation Suit Axed
7
National Women’s Law Center. D.C.’s Anti-SLAPP Law Is in Peril
8
Law360. Baker McKenzie Asks Judge Not to Toss Suit Against Ex-Atty
9
Law360. Baker McKenzie Describes Client Fallout After Assault Claims
10
Above the Law. BigLaw Defamation Fight Escalates as Ex-Baker McKenzie Associate Fires Back With Her Own Lawsuit
11
Baker McKenzie. Maurice Bellan
12
The Legal 500. Maurice Bellan
13
Baker McKenzie. Maurice Bellan Newsroom
14
SFGate. Sex Harassment Verdict Upheld
15
Los Angeles Times. Baker McKenzie Punitive Damages Upheld
16
Bloomberg Law. Wake-Up Call: U.K. Watchdog Pans Baker McKenzie’s Sex Harassment Probe
17
Roll on Friday. Baker McKenzie Regret Report Finds Assault Shortcomings