Monday, October 19, 2015 Advocates commission receives over 200 complaints against lawyers in 3 months

 
Ms Naomi Wagereka, a commissioner with the Advocates Complaints Commission. A Gazette notice she signed showed that the commission received 225 complaints against lawyers between July and September this year. FILE PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP   

By JAMES KARIUKI
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In Summary

• The report said three lawyers were also accused of issuing dud cheques to clients.
• A total of 20 lawyers were accused of withholding clients’ money while another 10 allegedly failed to represent their clients adequately.
• Of the 39 complaints received, which were marked as classified, 11 were disposed of, three were abandoned, four were settled, two were dismissed and one was withdrawn.

The Advocates Complaints Commission received 225 complaints against lawyers between July 1 and September 30 this year.

The complaints saw one lawyer struck off the roll of advocates for life while another 38 were forwarded to the disciplinary committee for action.

A report published in this week’s Kenya Gazette and signed by Commissioner Naomi Wagereka said 20 lawyers were accused of withholding clients’ money while another 10 allegedly failed to represent their clients adequately.

The report said three lawyers were also accused of issuing dud cheques to clients while another two deliberately failed to keep their clients informed regarding their cases.

Another lawyer was accused of withholding a client’s documents.

Of the 39 complaints received, which were marked as classified, 11 were disposed of, three were abandoned, four were settled, two were dismissed and one was withdrawn.

Another 30 were settled at the preliminary enquiry, where 186 complaints were under scrutiny while 26 cases sent to the disciplinary committee were settled amicably by the parties.