Legal Profession Board

If a person has a complaint about the way a lawyer has dealt with their work they can contact the Legal Profession Board of Tasmania. The Legal Profession Board is a statutorily independent body. It is the sole body in Tasmania dealing with complaints against legal practitioners. It consists of six Board Members appointed by the Governor of Tasmania.

Functions

The main role of the Legal Profession Board is to receive and resolve complaints about the conduct of lawyers. They can do so by:

• Mediation
• Intervention
• A hearing – either to the Disciplinary Tribunal or the Supreme Court

The Board does not provide legal advice.

Complaints Against Legal Practitioners

Before the Legal Profession Board will take any action on a complaint, it will assess whether the complaint has substance. The complaint cannot be vexatious or frivolous, or misconceived. If the complaint has substance, the Board will investigate. There is no fee associated with making a complaint. There is also a set form on which a complaint must be made out. This form is available on the ‘making a complaint’ site, given above.

If the Legal Profession Board decides that a practitioner may be guilty of professional misconduct, it must prosecute the practitioner. This is done before the Disciplinary Tribunal or the Supreme Court.

Contacting the Legal Profession Board

http://www.lpbt.com.au/contact