Unsatisfactory conduct: Lawyer swore at prosecutor in court

This is a summary of a decision by a Lawyers Standards Committee under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. This summary was published in LawTalk 782, 7 October 2011.

A criminal defence lawyer who swore at a Police prosecutor in a full courtroom breached the Conduct and Client Care Rules, a Lawyers Standards Committee has found.

The District Prosecution Manager for the Police had complained to the Law Society on the prosecutor’s behalf. The prosecutor claimed that when he had asked the lawyer whether she was ready to proceed with her defended hearing, she had replied “Fuck off. What do you think?”

The lawyer had made the comment in a loud voice in a full courtroom, the prosecutor said.

The lawyer admitted making the comment, but told the committee she had smiled and laughed when she said it and had not meant it in an aggressive or rude way. She said others in the courtroom had also laughed. The lawyer apologised unreservedly to the prosecutor, and he and the Prosecution Manager had accepted her apology.

The committee said it was completely unacceptable and repugnant for a lawyer to use profane language to another lawyer, particularly when members of the public can overhear. It found that the lawyer had breached Rule 10.1, which requires lawyers to treat each other with respect and courtesy, and was guilty of unsatisfactory conduct. However, the committee decided that in the circumstances it was sufficient to make a costs order of $250 in the Law Society’s favour.

 

© New Zealand Law Society 2008