Judge overturns attorney's suspension
Image: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria has expressed its concern regarding the conduct of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) after it obtained an urgent order to suspend an attorney who has been practising for 37 years, without doing a proper investigation into the allegations levelled against him.
The suspension obtained by the LPC against Wynand Naude and his law firm Naude Inc, was pending an application to finally strike his name from the roll of attorneys.
'The way in which the LPC conducted this matter is to be deprecated. A proper consideration of the facts would have made plain that there was no basis to apply to court for the suspension of Mr. Naude from the roll of attorneys and conveyancers,' Judge Anthony Millar said.
Naude turned to the court to appeal his suspension, which arose from two complaints against him. But the court, in overturning his suspension, found no evidence of trust account mismanagement or dishonesty against him.
In the opening to his judgment, Judge Millar remarked: 'Honesty, integrity, hard work and dedication form the bedrock required to establish a good name and professional reputation. Once attained, this is to be jealously guarded by both the practitioner as well as the professional body under whose aegis he conducts his practice".
Naude's problems started in 2023 when he was accused of misconduct regarding his handling of trust funds amounting to R120million. This followed a dispute involving Opes Properties and a Canadian businessman only identified as Mr Asfar.
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The first complaint involved letters Naude wrote on behalf of Asfar which Opes Properties claimed misrepresented the funds held in trust and Naude was also accused of not properly managing his trust account.
Opes lodged a complaint with the LPC against Naude in which it alleged that he had misrepresented that he was in possession of certain funds in his trust account. The company also claimed he 'lied and brought the legal profession into disrepute'.
The LPC embarked on an investigation against Naude and his firm, appointing an auditor to commence the investigation. The investigation only revealed certain technical breaches of trust account rules. The investigation dealt only with the books and records of the firm and did not take the form of a forensic audit but was rather a 'desktop evaluation,' Judge Millar remarked.
In evaluating all the facts, the judge concluded that there was neither a misrepresentation made by Naude nor any actionable breach of the rules of professional conduct or mismanagement of his trust account so as to justify the recommendation that he be suspended from practice.
'Had the members of the Gauteng Provincial Council of the LPC properly considered all the documents that were before them, they would have realised that there was simply no case, prima facie or otherwise, for the suspension of Mr. Naude.'
The judge added that the failure on the part of the LPC to afford Naude a right to be heard does not appear to have moved the members of the Council in their consideration of the matter and this is a matter of concern.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za
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