'Greedy' advocates ordered to pay back R15.6m

And all 13 who 'mounted the steed of greed' and milked the Road Accident Fund will have to pay back more than R15.6m of their ill-gotten gains, the North Gauteng High Court ruled yesterday. The case was also referred to the Law Society for further action against the attorneys complicit in the conduct of the advocates, notes a report on the News24 site. Retired Judges Kees van Dijkhorst, Piet Combrinck and William de Villiers expressed 'sorrow' about the case and said it gave them no joy to sit in judgment on 13 senior members of the Pretoria Bar. The advocates accepted multiple cases on the same day (so-called double briefing) and charged a full day's fee for each case (overreaching), a practice that had become rife in Pretoria in 2009. 'When counsel mount the steed of greed and attempt to clear the hurdle of their professional rules their fall inevitably dents the reputation of the profession, in this case the proud reputation of the Pretoria Bar. 'We write this judgment in sorrow and lament the loss of integrity, in the past the hallmark of the profession of advocates. Full report on the News24 site

The ruling followed an application by the General Council of the Bar to strike off all 13 advocates. The Pretoria Bar, however, asked the court to confirm sanctions already imposed on 12 of the advocates, including fines and suspensions. Reading a summary of their ruling, Van Dijkhorst said it struck one as odd that the Bar Council did not require the advocates to make amends and return the ill-gotten gains, nor did the advocates offer to do so. According to a report on the News24 site, he also said it appeared that despite being aware of the wide-spread practice of multiple briefing, there was no action until September 2009 when a senior member of the Bar laid a complaint. 'Why was the Bar Council so supine? Why did it fiddle while Rome burnt?' He noted 'it is the widely held fallacy that without a specific complaint against a specific member there can be no action. This situation can be likened to a fire brigade which sees towering flames and billowing smoke but stays put because nobody has reported a fire'. 'We suggest that the Bar Council gets its house in order. The rot is in the woodwork,' he added. The judges struck the names of Advocates Thillay Pillay, Theunis Botha, Toy de Klerk, Percy Leopeng, Daniel Mogagabe and French Bezuidenhout off the roll and ordered them to repay the RAF. The worst offender was Bezuidenhout, who was ordered to pay back more than R5.9m over the next year. Advocates Brenton Geach SC, Don Williams SC, Stef Gldenpfennig, Mark Upton, Ephraim Seima, Cassie Jordaan and Colin van Onselen were also given a year to repay the RAF and were given either suspended sentences or sentences suspended for up to a further six months. Full report on the News24 site

Pretoria Bar Council chair McCaps Motimele said it was a 'very difficult' time, not only for him but for the entire legal profession. According to a report in The Times, Motimele said it was the first time the Bar had applied to have so many lawyers struck from the role simultaneously. 'By any definition, it is a first, not only for the Pretoria Bar, but for the entire profession.' Yesterday's ruling bars the six advocates struck from the roll from practising law in any form. Motimele said he was unsure if the lawyers would appeal the judgment. Mandla Mvelase, acting CEO of the RAF, welcomed the judgment and said it should send out a 'strong message to those perpetrating fraud against the RAF, including members of the legal profession, that these illegal activities will not be tolerated and will have dire consequences for those involved'. Mvelase said the RAF was investigating a number of other attorneys and advocates who are suspected of defrauding it. Full report in The Times