Outcomes of inquiries held by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (LPDT) into complaints of misconduct brought to it by the LSRA and the Law Society of Ireland have been published for the first time.

These reports are now available on the LPDT’s website here:  gov.ie – Outcomes of Inquiries

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

The Authority is required to arrange for the publication of—

  • certain Disciplinary Tribunal 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.

Publication of Disciplinary Notices

The LSRA’s publication policy for these notices is as follows:

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (the “Authority”) has a statutory obligation to publish certain Disciplinary Tribunal determinations, High Court Orders and decisions on appeal.

The Authority has developed a publication policy that is linked to the severity of sanction imposed.  This policy 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.
  • Other notices relating to misconduct will be published for a period of three years.

The LPDT is an independent statutory body which was established to hear allegations of misconduct regarding solicitors and barristers. It began holding inquiry hearings in mid-2023. The LDPT is a successor body to previous disciplinary bodies for the legal profession – the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Barristers’ Professional Conduct Tribunal.

ENDS