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LPDT’s inquiry reports published for first time

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (LPDT) has, for the first time, published the outcome of inquiries into complaints of misconduct brought to it by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) and the Law Society. 

The outcomes are published under section 88 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, which requires the LSRA to arrange for the publication of matters determined by the LPDT when the time for lodging an appeal has expired. 

The LPDT is an independent statutory body that was set up to hear allegations of misconduct regarding solicitors and barristers. It began holding hearings in mid-2023. 

The reports are now available on the LPDT’s website.

Publication policy 

Under the 2015 act, the LSRA must arrange for the publication of: 

• Certain LPDT determinations,
• Certain High Court orders and decisions on appeal,
• The nature of the misconduct,
• The sanction imposed, and
• The name of the legal practitioner concerned. 

The LSRA says that it has developed a publication policy that is linked to the severity of the sanction imposed.   

This provides for the ongoing publication of the most serious sanctions, and the publication of less serious findings and related sanctions for specified periods of time:

• Where an order includes a sanction to strike a legal practitioner’s name off the roll of solicitors or the roll of practising barristers, the notice will remain published indefinitely,
• Where an order includes a sanction to suspend a legal practitioner from practising as a legal practitioner, the notice will be published for the duration of the period of suspension or three years, whichever is the longer,
• Where an order includes a sanction to impose a condition or conditions on a legal practitioner, the notice will be published for a period of three years, or the duration of time specified in the order, whichever is the longer, and
• Other notices relating to misconduct will be published for a period of three years.