Legal Profession Board of Tasmania v W

The Legal Profession Board of Tasmania appealed to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Tasmania against a finding by the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner that a legal practitioner, identified as W, had engaged in mere unprofessional conduct. The dispute concerned W's conduct in offering to settle a family law dispute on behalf of his client, provided that the client's ex-wife withdrew complaints she had made to the police against the client.

The central legal issue before the Full Court was the proper construction and application of section 421(1) of the *Legal Profession Act 2007* (Tas). This section defines professional misconduct. The Court was required to determine whether W's conduct, in leveraging the settlement of a civil matter to secure the withdrawal of criminal complaints, constituted professional misconduct as defined by the Act, or if it was correctly characterised as mere unprofessional conduct.

The Full Court reasoned that W's actions went beyond mere unprofessional conduct and amounted to professional misconduct. The Court held that a legal practitioner must not use their position or influence to improperly pressure a party to withdraw criminal complaints as a condition of resolving a civil dispute. Such conduct was found to be a serious breach of the practitioner's duty to the court and the public, and a contravention of the fundamental principles of the administration of justice. The Court concluded that the Commissioner had erred in finding only unprofessional conduct.

Consequently, the Full Court allowed the appeal, substituted a declaration of guilt of professional misconduct for the finding of mere unprofessional conduct, and remitted the matter for determination of appropriate disciplinary orders.