THE City lawyer who caused a furore when he charged a secretary £4 to have a ketchup stain removed from his trousers has resigned.

Richard Phillips, a senior associate at Baker & McKenzie, the world’s fifth-biggest law firm, became the most reviled man in the legal profession when he tried to make Jenny Amner pay for spilling the ketchup in the staff canteen.

His e-mail and her reply pointing out the disparity in their salaries and that her mother had just died were picked up by news agencies worldwide.

Mr Phillips plans to study for an unspecified career outside the law. He will leave in September. He and Mrs Amner are “on paid leave of absence from the office with our approval and full support”, the law firm said in a statement.

It said that Mr Phillips had decided on a career change in March. He resigned after the exchange of e-mails with Mrs Amner but before the matter of the “ketchup trousers” — the title of his first message — became public, the firm said. “We did not accept his resignation over this incident,” it said.

Mrs Amner had not heard of Mr Phillips’s resignation when telephoned yesterday at her home in Bexleyheath, South London. “I haven’t a clue,” she said. “I’m just having a day off.” Mrs Amner, a mother of two grown-up daughters, denied that she was considering her future with the firm.

She said that she was incensed by the controversy over the e-mails, which erupted after her mother died. Weeks earlier, Mrs Amner had split up with her husband of 28 years.

On May 25 Mr Phillips wrote: “Hi Jenny. I went to a dry cleaners at lunch and they said it would cost £4 to remove the ketchup stains. If you cd let me have the cash today, that wd be much appreciated.”

Mr Phillips is thought to earn about £80,000. Mrs Amner is thought to earn about £25,000.

Mrs Amner replied nine days later: “I must apologise for not getting back to you straight away but due to my mother’s sudden illness, death and funeral I have had more pressing issues than your £4.

“I apologise again for accidentally getting a few splashes of ketchup on your trousers. Obviously your financial need as a senior associate is greater than mine as a mere secretary.”

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