The Legal Practice Council has confirmed that it is probing the fact that the lawyer in the R60 billion foreclosure class action lawsuit against the country’s major banks, Douglas Shaw did not have a valid certificate.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has ordered that lawyer Douglas Shaw, who has been driving the R60 billion class action against four of the country’s major banks, may not practice as an attorney for his own account at this stage.
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Judge Petrus van Niekerk, is pending the outcome of an application by the Legal Practice Council (LPC), which wants Shaw to be either suspended or removed from the roll of legal practitioners for not having a Fidelity Fund Certificate.
The LPC’s urgent application did not go ahead Tuesday, as the parties indicated that they still wanted to exchange court papers. Indications at this stage are that the urgent bid by the legal watchdog will return to the urgent court on May 12.
While the parties agreed that the matter could not go ahead at this stage, Judge Van Niekerk questioned what should happen in the interim until the matter is resolved.
The judge commented that "this matter is in the public interest, and I cannot allow him to practice without a certificate".
The judge said that whether the application was being postponed or not, he was set on issuing an interim order.
Counsel for Shaw explained that he has not been practising since the matter of the Fidelity Certificate came up in court earlier.
Judge Van Niekerk said Shaw could give an undertaking that he will not practice for his own account, but the judge insisted on an order in this regard.
Shaw is meanwhile set on fighting his suspension, as he had applied for his Fidelity Fund Certificate but said it was not issued to him as the LPC still required more documentation, which, according to him, he did supply.
The LPC issues the certificate, a vital document for attorneys and certain advocates. If they appear in court on behalf of clients without it, it could be regarded as a criminal offence.
It came to light in February, as the R60bn long-awaited class action was due to kick off in the Johannesburg High Court, that Shaw did not have a Fidelity Fund Certificate for this year. This fact was divulged to one of the banks via a whistle-blower.
Shaw explained that he had the certificate last year, but it was not renewed for this year. He, however, assured the court that he is on the brink of receiving it and that only a few documents required by the LPC were still outstanding, which, according to him, have now been submitted.
But Judge Leonie Windell was adamant that without it, he would be off this case. She also requested the LPC to investigate the matter and to report back to the court. The Gauteng arm of the LPC, in its report, stated that Shaw not only brought the legal profession into disrepute but also committed a criminal offence when he appeared without a Fidelity Fund Certificate.
The Investigating Committee of the LPC recommended that an urgent application be brought to suspend Shaw from the roll of legal practitioners.
The class action hearing was set down in February after nearly six years of preparation for the case, in which the applicants claim that they had previously lost their homes at the hands of the banks in cases where this drastic step was not necessary.
Others complained that they were severely shortchanged as their homes were sold for far below their market price to recover outstanding debt. The banks are contesting the application and, in lengthy court papers, stated that they do everything possible to protect default homeowners.
The LPC has set out in its report that Shaw, who was admitted as an advocate in 2010, was permitted in 2024 to convert to an attorney. He held a Fidelity Fund Certificate, according to the LPC, until the end of 2025. It deemed the fact that he appeared in court in February this year without the certificate in a very serious light.
Cape Times