President of the Fiji Law Society Dorsami Naidu has been found guilty of seven charges of alleged unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.

However, Commissioner of the Independent Legal Services Commission John Connors has dismissed seven other charges against Naidu, while two separate charges were withdrawn by the Chief Registrar and also dismissed.

On the counts on which Naidu has been found guilty, one complaint relates to an incident between December 2005 and December 2006 where Naidu billed a client $3,750 for legal services but the amount was not justified.

Another complaint deals with a land purchase agreement where Naidu failed to inform his client that the land in question was co-owned before the purchase was made.

Naidu has also been guilty in relation to rendering a bill of costs to a client after using $250 which was paid by the client into his law firms trust account.

On another complaint, Naidu has been found guilty of not re-instituting a case for his client after the matter was struck out by the High court as instructed by his client.

He is also found guilty of causing delays in returning the case file to the client.

The matter is adjourned for mitigation on Monday before the penalties are handed down by Commissioner Connors.


Story by: Roneel Lal