Australia, Sept. 10 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 11:

1. By application lodged on 13 June 2025 with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), Mr J Chi (the Applicant) seeks administrative (or merits) review of a decision made by the NSW Legal Services Commissioner (the Commissioner) on 28 May 2025 to refuse the Applicant's request that the Commissioner conduct an internal review, under s 313(1) of the Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 (NSW) (Uniform Law), of a decision made by the Law Society of NSW (Law Society) to close a complaint which had been made by the Applicant concerning the conduct of three lawyers (the complaint).

2. The application (the Administrative Review Application) was listed for a hearing on 7 August 2025 on NCAT's jurisdiction. The parties had the opportunity to provide written submissions and evidentiary material (if any) as to NCAT's jurisdiction. The Applicant was made aware that he would need to identify jurisdiction in the Occupational Division of NCAT which would allow NCAT to review the decision made by the Commissioner on 28 May 2025 and to make the orders sought, and that if he failed to identify NCAT's jurisdiction, the Administrative Review Application may be dismissed.

3. In my view, NCAT does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the Administrative Review Application. Accordingly, the proceedings are dismissed for want of jurisdiction, with no order as to costs.

Background

4. On 18 November 2024 the Applicant made a complaint about the three lawyers to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner (OLSC). That complaint was referred by the Commissioner to the Law Society to be dealt with under Chapter 5 of the Uniform Law.

5. The complaint related to conduct in District Court proceedings in which the lawyers concerned acted for an insurer in relation to a disputed claim resulting from a motor vehicle accident. The Applicant made several allegations in his complaint, including that the lawyers misled the District Court in those proceedings. For present purposes, it is not necessary to refer to any further background information about the complaint nor to refer to those lawyers by name.

6. By letter dated 23 December 2024, the Law Society advised the Applicant of its decision made on 12 December 2024 to close his complaint under s 277(1)(h) of the Uniform Law. The Law Society (through the Professional Conduct Committee or PCC) formed the view that the complaint required no further investigation.

7. By emails to the OLSC on 3 December 2024 and 24 February 2025 (review requests), the Applicant asked the Commissioner to conduct an internal review of the Law Society's decision to close the Applicant's complaint (Law Society decision).

8. The Commissioner refused the review requests, under s 313(1) of the Uniform Law, as she did not consider it appropriate to conduct an internal review of the Law Society decision.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19887ee957586ed08eca8e49)

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