Legal Practictioners Conduct Board

Section 73 of the Legal Practitioners Act contains a provision which binds both members and staff of the Board not to divulge information except in certain circumstances outlined in that provision of the Legal Practitioners Act. Consequently the fact of there being a complaint or the details of the complaint will not be divulged to anyone other than in accordance with the Act.

Will other members of my firm be advised if a complaint is made against me?

The confidentiality provision (Section 73) of the Legal Practitioners Act prevents the Board from communicating the nature of the complaint to anyone other than the person who is the subject of the complaint, in the absence of authority from the practitioner to do so.

However you should be aware that if the complaint itself is about the firm, several practitioners within the firm, systemic issues or about costs, the complaint may be published to the firm or the managing partner thereof.

As the principal of a firm I wish to be notified of any complaints against the practitioner employed in my firm? How do I arrange for this to occur?

Over the years a number of firms have requested that any complaints received by the Legal Practitioners Conduct Board be divulged to their managing partner or general or practice manager of the firm.

The Board recognises that the managing partner or other nominee of the firm, has an interest in being made aware that a complaint has been made against a practitioner of that firm. Indeed, the issue in dispute may be able to be resolved at firm level, unless it amounts to unprofessional or unsatisfactory conduct.

The confidentiality provision prevents the Board from automatically advising other members of the firm. The Board will always publish a complaint to the legal practitioner the subject of the complaint.

However where a practitioner has authorised his/her firm to be notified of a complaint made against that practitioner, then the complaint will also be published to the nominated person in that particular firm. You need to take steps to indicate to the Board if employees or fellow partners have authorised a particular person in the firm to receive such notification of the complaint from the Board. The Board would also need to advised that practitioners engaged by the firm in the future would be required to provide the necessary authority.

If you do not already have an arrangement in place with the Board and you wish complaints to be published to a managing partner, principal or general manager of a firm then you should contact the Director of the Legal Practitioners Conduct Board to arrange for such a protocol to be established.