Acknowledge that the threshhold test of section 155 of the Legal Profession Act is remarkably low, when all is said and done. Examine the charge that often there can be only a choice between leg amputation and finger loss for practitioners in some complaint cases. Thousands of complaints each year turn up small numbers which are held by Professional Conduct Committees to be sustainable. They mostly result in the practitioner bearing the considerable costs of days before the Tribunal. Fortunate is the plaintiff who knows that the defendant will have to pay for proceedings, as long as the plaintiff gets up on something.
Many complaints arise from conflicts of duty cases.
As I understand it, in Western Australia the Board which oversees the qualification and admission of lawyers also pursues disciplinary matters. That seems logical to me. I am told that many WA complainants still elect to ask the WA Society to look into concerns they have. The Law Society of New South Wales is the professional association for the solicitors branch of the legal profession in the State of New South Wales, Australia. 170 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.