Peter Savage, one of the Midlands’ leading personal injury attorneys, may be fired for a prior conviction for assaulting a hotel manager.
Savage was convicted in August 2006 after a night out celebrating a court victory ended with a slap in the face by Amanda Rymond. In court, Savage pleaded guilty to the charges, but continued to practice law.
The assault occurred on the night of April 21, 2006 when Mr. Savage, along with a group of friends, entered the Forest Hotel where Ms. Rymond was a shift manager.
After Mr. Savage spilled a drink, she asked him to leave. She remembers that “he had been drinking a lot and he seemed very drunk to me. He was reeling, he fell in love with people. It is a nice hotel and a lot of local people and business people go there for a drink after work.”
“I spoke to Mr Savage a couple of times during the night. I had been told that he and a few others were celebrating having won a great court case in London.”
“I offered to call him a taxi, but he got mad. He raised his voice to some of the other customers and started yelling nonsense.”
“I called him a taxi and went out with him. He was very rude to me. But when the taxi came, just before he got in, he came up to me and slapped me hard. More of a shock than anything else.”
“I didn’t expect him to do something like that and I could hardly believe it. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before and thankfully nothing like it since.”
“He did not apologize and went to get into the taxi, but I and another client managed to stop him and we kept him there until the police arrived. Then they arrested him and took him away.”
Following the incident, Mr Savage pleaded guilty to assault in court, where he was fined £ 1,500 and ordered to pay £ 500 compensation and £ 50 court costs. The judge justified the large fine by stating that “lawyers should know better than to behave in that way”
The incident has come to the attention of the Lawyers Regulatory Authority (SRA) and Mr. Savage faces a Disciplinary Lawyers Court. He could be removed and banned from practicing and faces fines of up to £ 5000.
The SRA said that “in cases like this where someone has been convicted in court, we would not have to present a case, but the Disciplinary Bar Court will decide the punishment.”
Geoffry Negus, a spokesman for the SRA, explained why the SRA was investigating the charges, saying that “it is important that the conduct of lawyers outside the workplace does not discredit the profession.”
While the SRA takes violent offenses very seriously, Mr. Savage may avoid being removed as he has no prior erasures on his record. He is also a member of the Personal Injury Lawyers Association and is described as a very talented attorney.
His area of expertise encompasses serious head and spine injuries, fatalities, and childhood injuries. Savage did not offer comment on his current situation.