She sent the complaint as an open letter to the Law Society and said the term is often used to mock and demean female staff in the law profession.
When contacted by the Herald, Todd said he would like to be able to speak about the post, but he could not.
"I apologise, but it's not proper that I speak about it publicly when it's the subject of a complaint," he said.
The complaint would not meet the threshold to start an investigation by a New Zealand Law Society Standards committee or to have Todd suspended or struck off.
Instead, Lawton filed the complaint to get the Law Society to adopt a procedure for handling complaints of this kind in the future.
"It is without doubt that these remarks perpetuate the culture of sexual harassment that exists in not all, but many parts of the legal profession," she said.
"I therefore invite the Law Society to consider what procedure to adopt, if any, to handle complaints of this nature and if so, what repercussions should follow."
The term hareem is spelt with a single "e" in the Oxford Dictionary and is defined as:
Harem NOUN
• (in former times) the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives,
concubines, and female servants.
"we were invited into the harem in the rear of the house"
• The women occupying a harem; the wives (or concubines) of a polygamous
man.
"the Maharaja of Delhi had a very fine harem of 18 young and nubile wives"
• A group of female animals sharing a single mate.
"the dominant bulls gather a harem of anything from two to 10 cows"
• Derogatory A group of women perceived as centring around a particular man.
"rich men with their extensive harems of buxom blondes"
