From rudeness to kidnap – the complaints faced by barristers

BARRISTERS were accused of serious rudeness, undue pressure to settle cases and even kidnapping children in complaints lodged last year, a report has revealed.

Details of the accusations levelled against members of the Bar were outlined by the Barristers’ Professional Conduct Tribunal.

Unlike the corresponding tribunal for solicitors, the Barristers’ Professional Conduct Tribunal conducts all of its business behind closed doors and does not identify counsel against whom complaints or findings have been made.

However, in its latest annual report, made available to the Irish Independent, the tribunal revealed it received 35 complaints about members of the profession in 2019, up from 32 the previous year.

The report by tribunal chairman Eoin McCullough SC said quite often there were multiple charges of impropriety in an individual complaint.

Five complaints concerned alleged conflicts of interest, while four complainants alleged their counsel was incompetent.

Four others alleged undue pressure to settle cases or bullying or a combination of both.

There were three complaints of “serious rudeness”.

One complainant alleged counsel had misled the court, and another that a barrister had acted without proper instructions. Another complainant alleged their barrister did not follow instructions.

The report said that in one very fraught family law case the barrister was accused of kidnapping the children.

The report also revealed that 15 litigants complained about opposition counsel, possibly misunderstanding the role of barristers on the other side of their case, especially in regard to robust cross-examination.

The report also said some barristers had to be reminded that no response, or a slow response, to tribunal inquiries was itself contrary to their disciplinary code.

The report did not provide information on the outcome of the complaints but when the tribunal upholds a complaint it can impose disciplinary measures ranging from an admonishment right up to suspension or requiring the Bar Council to make a referral to the Disciplinary Committee of the Benchers of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, which can strike off barristers.

Previous reports show the number of upheld complaints tends to be low, while disbarment is extremely rare.

Patrick Russell was struck off in 2012 for “fundamentally dishonest” behaviour, including obtaining money from a client and purporting to conduct a Supreme Court appeal when he did not. Russell also failed to pay a Bar Council fine of €25,000 following a separate investigation in 2008.

In 2017, Paul McLoughlin was suspended from practice until December 2028. This followed his conviction in 2012 for harassing a colleague, for which he received a prison term.

The advent of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) means the Barristers’ Professional Conduct Tribunal is set to be phased out once it concludes dealing with complaints received prior to October 7 last year.

Under the LSRA, the most serious matters will be referred to a new Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, which will sit in public. In a report last month, the LSRA revealed it had received 636 complaints in the five months after October 7. Some 633 related to solicitors, while just three were about barristers.

Quite often, there were multiple charges in a single complaint