Lawyers get wake-up call - Local News - News - General - The Canberra Times

ACT ATTORNEY-GENERAL Simon Corbell is considering appointing a legal services commissioner to investigate allegations of professional misconduct by members of the local legal community.

A spokeswoman for the Justice and Community Safety Directorate said that, while the current regulatory system had served the ACT well, Mr Corbell was seeking to identify potential improvements.

A wide range of possible options needed to be carefully considered, including whether to adopt a proposed national regulatory scheme.

Mr Corbell's office was responding to questions from the Sunday Canberra Times following a Consumer Voice report two weeks ago in which the Law Society of the ACT dismissed a complaint against a solicitor who had charged $1650 to make a minor change to a Hackett couple's will.

The society's professional standards director, Robert Reis, said its complaints committee had dismissed the complaint for lack of substance.

A Canberra lawyer, who asked not to be identified, said it constituted gross overcharging and should have been found by the society to be professional misconduct. Generally, lawyers charge about $200 to draft a will.

The society's president, Athol Opas, said it had concluded the charging was not so excessive that it could be categorised as unprofessional.

Mr Opas would not comment on what he would expect to pay to have a will prepared, but said charges would need to be reasonable for the time spent.

''It seems to me the Law Society has undertaken a careful investigation into the complaint.''

He did not agree the ACT needed a legal services commissioner as exists in other jurisdictions to investigate complaints about lawyers.

He said the society did a very professional job with complaint handling and had a vested interest in upholding high standards.

''I am strongly confident the Law Society performs its role as regulator to a very high standard without cost to ACT ratepayers,'' Mr Opas said.

A legal services commissioner would be another cost to the ACT budget.

''Given the small size of our jurisdiction, the Law Society performs a professional job and upholds very high standards.''

He said, this was done without fear or favour.

''Quite often those complaints are without merit,'' Mr Opas said.

Mr Opas said lawyers were a natural target for people wanting to make complaints when things did not work out as they had hoped.