Step by Step Process:
Complaint Dismissal Appeals
I.
OVERVIEW
1. This step by step process deals with matters that have come to the attention of the Law
Society by way of a complaint against a lawyer.
2. The Executive Director means the Executive Director or the Executive Director’s
delegate, which includes Formal Complaints Reviewers.
3. The Appeal Panel means the Appeal Committee or an Appeal Committee Panel.
4. When a complaint is received, it is reviewed by the Executive Director and either
dismissed or referred to a Law Society Committee for a determination of the appropriate
disciplinary action.1
5. If a complainant believes a complaint they submitted was incorrectly dismissed, the
complainant can appeal to the Appeal Committee2 by providing the necessary forms to
the Executive Director.
6. The Complaint Appeal Dismissal Form and all other correspondence to the Law Society
can be delivered to the Executive Director care of the Law Society by regular mail or by
email at the addresses provided.
II.
THE APPEAL PANEL
7. The Appeal Panel: For the purpose of deciding complaint dismissal appeals, the Appeal
Committee sits in panels of three. One member of each Appeal Panel will be designated
as the Chair of that panel.3
8. Conflict of Interest: Appeal Panel members do not sit on Appeal Panels where they
believe a reasonable apprehension of bias or conflict of interest may exist.
9. Once an Appeal Panel has been assigned to a complaint dismissal appeal, the
complainant and the lawyer against whom the complaint was made will be provided with
the names of the Panel members and given an opportunity to raise any objections to the
composition of the Panel. Objections and the reasons for the objections must be made
in writing by the deadline provided. The Appeal Panel will make rulings on objections
before deciding the appeal and will include those rulings as part of its written decision.
1
Legal Profession Act, s. 53(4);
Legal Profession Act, s. 54(1); The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(1).
3
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(4).
2
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Step by Step Process:
Complaint Dismissal Appeals
III.
THE APPEAL
10. Appeal Without Oral Submissions: Complaint dismissal appeals are in writing.4 There
is no oral hearing and no oral submissions unless required by the Appeal Panel.
11. If oral hearing or oral submissions are required by the Appeal Panel, the complainant,
the lawyer against whom the complaint was made and counsel for the Law Society will
all be invited to attend for an oral hearing or to make oral submissions.
12. Appeal Form: The only document a complainant needs to fill out and send to the Law
Society for an appeal is the Complaint Dismissal Appeal Form. The Complaint
Dismissal Appeal Form must be used. Letters, email messages or other
communications will not be accepted as a substitute for the Complaint Dismissal Appeal
Form.
13. Grounds of Appeal: It is important to understand the role of complainants in the
regulation of the lawyer’s conduct. Complainants are not parties to the regulation
process like they can be in a civil court action. They cannot direct how the Law Society
will deal with the lawyer’s conduct. That is the job of the Law Society. This is why
disagreeing with the decision of the Executive Director to dismiss a complaint is not a
ground to appeal.
However, complainants can be important witnesses and can bring important information
forward that will allow the Law Society to deal with a lawyer’s conduct. For those
reasons, the grounds for an appeal can include: inadequate review; failure to consider
important facts; failure to properly apply the Code of Conduct or The Rules of the Law
Society of Alberta; or new evidence that was not available before the complaint was
dismissed.
14. Deadline for Filing Appeal: The Complaint Dismissal Appeal Form must be returned to
the Law Society within 30 days of the date the complainant is deemed to have received
the letter dismissing their complaint.5
15. Extending Time for Delivery of Appeal Form: The Chair of the Appeal Committee has
the discretion to extend the time for delivery of the Complaint Dismissal Appeal Form but
extensions will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.6
16. Involvement of the Lawyer Against Whom the Complaint was Made: The lawyer
against whom the complaint was made will be notified of the appeal, provided with a
copy of the Complaint Dismissal Appeal Form and given the opportunity to respond to
the matters raised in the appeal. The appeal is not an adversarial process between the
4
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(6).
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(1)(b).
6
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(2).
5
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Step by Step Process:
Complaint Dismissal Appeals
complainant and the lawyer against whom the complaint was made. The lawyer does not
need to participate in the appeal process and the Appeal Panel will not make an adverse
inference against the lawyer if the lawyer chooses not to participate.
17. Reply Form: If the lawyer against whom the complaint was made chooses to make
submissions on the appeal, the submissions will be made using the Complaint Dismissal
Appeal Reply Form.7
18. Deadline for Filing a Reply Form: A Complaint Dismissal Appeal Reply Form must be
received by the Law Society within 30 days of the date the lawyer is deemed to have
received notice of the appeal.8
19. Standard of Review: The standard of review is correctness. This means that the
Appeal Panel needs to decide if the Executive Director was not correct in deciding there
was no reasonable chance the lawyer would be found guilty of conduct deserving of
sanction. It is important to understand that the Appeal Panel is not reconsidering the
complaint and applying its own judgment. It is assessing whether errors were made or
circumstances have changed such that the original result is no longer the right outcome.
It is only when the Appeal Panel finds there was an incorrect decision or an oversight
that the Appeal Panel will grant the appeal.
20. New Evidence: In order for new evidence to be considered, it cannot have been
available to the complainant before the complaint was dismissed and it must be relevant
and material to the complaint.9
IV.
RESOLUTION OF THE APPEAL
21. Possible Outcomes: There are only two possible outcomes for a complaint dismissal
appeal: the Appeal Panel can either direct that the complaint be dismissed or refer the
matter to the Conduct Committee.10
22. Written Decision: The Appeal Panel will deliver a written decision to the Executive
Director. The Executive Director is responsible for ensuring that a copy of the written
decision is provided to both the complainant and the lawyer against whom the complaint
was made.11
23. No Further Appeal: The decision of the Appeal Panel is final and there is no further
appeal. Section 57 of the Legal Profession Act does allow for further re-examination in
very rare circumstances where there is evidence that a significant factual or legal
7
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(3)(c).
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(3)(c)
9
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(7)(b).
10
Legal Profession Act, s. 54(2).
11
The Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 86(8).
8
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Step by Step Process:
Complaint Dismissal Appeals
element was overlooked or unknown at the time the complaint was dismissed. This
further re-examination is not an appeal of the dismissal of the complaint.
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