Tribunal also finds lawyer failed to supervise junior staff and breached duties to the courts
A New Zealand lawyer has been suspended from practice for four months and ordered to pay substantial costs after a disciplinary tribunal found she ran her firm while forbidden from practising on her own account and failed to properly supervise and treat junior staff.
The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal also censured a senior lawyer who had acted as a director of the firm, finding he "did not properly understand [his] obligations."
The lawyers, identified only as Ms A and Mr B, are covered by non-publication orders. The Tribunal declined Ms A's application to suppress her name, but an interim order remains in place while she pursues an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In its liability decision, the Tribunal found Ms A guilty of three counts of misconduct and one of unsatisfactory conduct. The charges related to practising on her own account when forbidden to do so, failing to supervise junior staff, her treatment of staff, and breaching duties to the court and a client. Ms A admitted the last charge.
At the penalty hearing, the Standards Committee argued the penalty "must start at the high end of available sanctions." Ms A's counsel submitted this approach was punitive and wrong, noting the Tribunal had made no findings of dishonesty.
The Tribunal disagreed, stating it did "not consider that a charge must involve dishonesty to be...
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