Recent Disciplinary Decision

The  Full Court of the Supreme Court has recently made the decision of Legal Profession Board of Tasmania v W [2023] TASFC 1 on 17 March 2023.

The decision concerns the conduct of a legal practitioner who conveyed his instructions to offer to settle family law property matters if his client’s ex-wife withdrew complaints to police made by her against the client. The Full Court found the conduct to be professional misconduct in that it was a substantial failure to reach or maintain a reasonable standard of competence an diligence. The Court also settled the issue as to the interpretation of sections 421(a) and (b) of the Legal Profession Act 2007 in relation to a finding of professional misconduct.

The decision is available on both AustLII and Jade and will be published on the Board’s Disciplinary Register.