A total of 19 attorneys in the Free State are subject of an investigation by the Legal Practice Council (LPC), the body regulating the affairs of and exercising jurisdiction over all legal practitioners. These practitioners are suspended from practice pending probing after reports of misconduct.
The 19 practitioners were suspended for the current fiscal year, January to November. Some among them are well-known in the public domain. The current number of suspended attorneys is the largest number compared to 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. The figure also exceeds that of 2018 and 2019.
Adverse findings by the regulatory body saw just one “ungovernable” culprit struck off the roll of the profession this year.
Between 2018 and 2019, six lawyers were struck off the roll and another six between 2020 and 2022. The regulatory body would not divulge the reasons for the suspended and ultimately disbarred practitioners, despite serious allegations relating to contravention of the Legal Practice Act, fraud of estate and mismanagement of funds ,as well as probing by the police.
Some of the suspended attorneys’ cases are currently before the Free State High Court. Some of those struck off the roll were found guilty in criminal courts and by the LPC, which had its decision endorsed in the Free State High Court.
Kabelo Letebele, media relations manager at the LPC, has confirmed that the regulatory body was investigating 765 complaints against legal practitioners in the Free State.
According to Letebele, the LPC is gravely concerned about the increase of complaints against practitioners, resulting in suspended and disbarred attorneys. According to him, on average, the organisation strikes off 30 to 50 legal practitioners per year.
“Where there is serious misconduct, the necessary action is taken,” he said.
