UAE-based lawyer who leased out licence is suspended for two months

Abu Dhabi - The move followed investigations that confirmed that she violated the law regulating the legal profession.

A lawyer's six-month suspension for illegally leasing out her practising licence has been reduced to two months on appeal.
The Abu Dhabi Cassation Court upheld an earlier decision by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department's disciplinary board of the lawyers' committee, which had withdrawn the legal licence of the Emirati lawyer and suspended her from practising the profession for six months.
The move followed investigations that confirmed that she violated the law regulating the legal profession, when she gave her licence to other people for them to use it.  The lawyer was also found to have allowed the man to rent part of her office so he could provide advisory services to people under her licence.
The judicial department officials said an Arab man had lodged a complaint against the lawyer, accusing her of breaching the contract in which she leased him her legal practising licence and also part of her office chambers. He was operating independently, but he was using the lawyer's licence.
The man said he had agreed with the woman that his firm would provide legal and advisory services using her licence for some years. He noted that he was surprised when the lawyer suddenly terminated the contract without prior notice,  which he considered a breach in the terms of their agreement.
Following investigations, the case was referred to the committee of lawyers' disciplinary board, which issued a decision to suspend the lawyer from practising her profession for six months. The committee said it was illegal for a lawyer to lease his or her practising licence to another person to provide legal services as a different entity. Not satisfied with the decision by the disciplinary board, the lawyer went to Abu Dhabi's highest court, which upheld the earlier decision but reduced the suspension period from six to two months.
The Cassation Court judge said the legal practising license only allows the lawyer to personally manage his or her law firm and shall be responsible for cases brought to them and also to  represent clients in court.
He added that the law also prohibits the lawyer from assigning another person to be the top manager of the law firm or renting it out to others to operate under his or her legal practising licence.
 ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi