Potkonyak v Legal Services Commissioner (No 2)

The appeal in *Potkonyak v Legal Services Commissioner (No 2)* concerned a legal practitioner, Mr Potkonyak, who had been found guilty of professional misconduct by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) in relation to his conduct of proceedings under the *Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998* (NSW). As a consequence of this finding, Mr Potkonyak was removed from the roll of legal practitioners. He appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Tribunal had erred in its determination of professional misconduct. Specifically, the court was asked to consider whether the Tribunal had failed to properly interpret the *Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998*, denied Mr Potkonyak procedural fairness by not considering his evidence and submissions, failed to provide adequate reasons for its decision, wrongly refused to permit evidence of prior complaints, and whether there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the Tribunal's decision. The court held that the Tribunal had adequately considered the relevant legislation and the evidence and submissions presented by Mr Potkonyak. It was also found that the Tribunal's reasons were sufficient and that the exclusion of evidence regarding prior complaints was appropriate. Furthermore, the court found no basis for a reasonable apprehension of bias. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.