Real-life 'Rake' lawyer given one year to shape up

A high-profile barrister who became the inspiration for Lothario TV lawyer Rake will spend the next year reflecting on his indiscretions while enduring a ban from practising law for sexual misconduct.

Charles Waterstreet was found in April to have sexually harassed three female staff members.

On Wednesday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled the 75-year-old would be able to reapply for his certificate to practise law only after one year.

The tribunal previously found complaints made against Mr Waterstreet by the three, much-younger women between 2014 and 2019 constituted sexual harassment.

The incidents included showing nude images of himself to a female employee, making sexually explicit remarks and publicly watching pornography while at work.

He was found to have harassed one of the women, who worked for him as an administrative assistant while she was 24, on multiple occasions.

In one case, Mr Waterstreet made comments to the young woman about the female partner of a client, saying words to the effect of "I want to rub her all over".

Like his on-screen counterpart, played by actor Richard Roxburgh, the former criminal barrister became widely known for his eccentric and sometimes chaotic approach to the legal profession.

Mr Waterstreet told the tribunal a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2022 had helped him understand what was driving some of that behaviour and how it had veered into the inappropriate.

In an affidavit to the tribunal, the barrister said he previously didn't understand that what he regarded as jokes might not be taken as jokes by others.

"I am embarrassed and ashamed by the grossness and uncurbed nature of my conduct," Mr Waterstreet said.

"I didn't understand sexual harassment. I thought it was subjective and intention played a part."

Evidence presented to the tribunal included an extract from a December 2023 episode of The Stick Up podcast in which Mr Waterstreet described himself as "politically incorrect".

"I got into trouble for, you know, slips of the tongue," the barrister told podcast host Russell Manser.

The tribunal found Mr Waterstreet's comments outside the formal proceedings suggested he still had some way to go before fully accepting responsibility for his actions.

"Insight is the first step," the three tribunal members wrote.

"The next step is for him to change his behaviour."

Mr Waterstreet was also questioned before the tribunal over a section of his website that listed him as being "on sabbatical" from practising law.

When asked about his use of the term, he accepted it could be potentially misleading.

"It's a way of putting a very uncomfortable experience ... without saying 'I've been cancelled'," Mr Waterstreet said.

Despite his public profile, the barrister was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2018 after receiving a bill for unpaid taxes totalling more than $420,000.

He revealed during the tribunal hearings that he had been living for a time at a backpackers hostel but had since moved into his own apartment.

Mr Waterstreet was ordered to pay the NSW Bar Association's costs for bringing the proceedings.