Legal body cracks whip

RAF vindicated’ by ombud report lambasting the Legal Practice Council.

- Roy Cokayne

More than 100 legal practitioners have been struck off the roll for misconduct this year, says the Legal Practice Council (LPC).

LPC senior manager for communications and engagements Kabelo Letebele said a further more than 150 have been placed on suspension this year alone as a result of the work done by the council.

Letebele confirmed this in response to a request by Moneyweb for comment on a damning report issued by the Legal Services Ombud last month to a complaint about the manner in which the LPC handled the investigation and disciplinary proceedings of a complaint against the firm Schumann van den Heever & Slabbert Inc in Kempton Park, Gauteng.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) said its complaints about the legal profession were vindicated by the "scathing Legal Services Ombud report" about maladministration at the LPC, which had "lambasted the LPC's failure to hold crooked attorneys to account".