Lavery: Under pressure
The Law Society of Northern Ireland (LSNI) is in turmoil over a row about its chief executive giving a character reference for a relative convicted of historical sexual offences.
The society has this week revealed that a disciplinary panel had found David Lavery guilty of gross misconduct but imposed a sanction “short of dismissal”.
However, the statement from the LSNI suggested that Mr Lavery’s misconduct may have extended beyond just this one issue.
The row has gathered pace since it emerged that Mr Lavery gave a character reference for William Lloyd-Lavery, a cousin, who was jailed in April for two years for indecently assaulting four girls while a teacher at a south Belfast school in the 1970s.
It has been reported that he told the court at the sentencing that his cousin was “a settled, family man who wanted to contribute to society through his work on behalf of a number of elected representatives. I know that he was well respected in these circles and was viewed as a person of sound judgment and good character”.
As a result, Northern Ireland secretary Sir Chris Bryant removed Mr Lavery from his role as a member of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
Mr Lavery issued a statement apologising “unreservedly for what I recognise was a serious error in judgement on my part in providing a character reference for my cousin and particularly for any hurt and distress that I caused the victims in this case”.
He added: “I profoundly regret that and I am committed to doing all I can to address it in the time ahead.”
Despite calls for him to resign from the LSNI – and two members of the society’s council resigning, although not explicitly linking their decisions to Mr Lavery – he retained the support of the society’s president, Mark Borland.
The LSNI’s position had been that it had undertaken a confidential “internal process” in relation to Mr Lavery and would be making no comment on the outcome.
But this changed earlier this week ahead of a special general meeting (SGM) called by concerned solicitors.
In an email to members, Mr Borland acknowledged concerns about the extent of information the LSNI had provided about the process and its outcome. The council had therefore agreed to release more.
Mr Borland said a report by a senior retired High Court judge appointed to act as an independent investigator “found an evidential basis upon which council may form the view that the CEO had committed a number of breaches of his contractual and common law duties”.
This led to Mr Lavery’s referral to an independent disciplinary panel over “a number of complaints, including of misconduct”. The panel was comprised of three solicitors and an experienced external HR consultant, whose recommendations the council agreed it would follow.
This found Mr Lavery guilty of gross misconduct. Mr Borland wrote: “The disciplinary panel further considered evidence in mitigation and determined that the appropriate sanction that the chief executive received a sanction short of dismissal.
“The chief executive was advised of his right of appeal but declined to exercise that right.”
An LSNI spokesman said: “The society recognised our membership’s need for further information to be disclosed concerning the chief executive’s disciplinary proceedings and the outcome. The president has written to members with further information.
“A decision was taken to adjourn the special general meeting on that basis and a new date has been set for 19 October 2026.”
Leading Northern Irish solicitor Jonathan McKeown, founder of both top personal injury firm JMK Solicitors and commercial firm Granite Legal Services, was a leading figure in calling the SGM.
He said the message from Mr Borland raised “important questions which, in the interests of transparency, now require clarification” – particularly around the suggestion that, contrary to the LSNI’s communications up to now, issues other than the character reference were involved.
“References to multiple alleged breaches and multiple complaints leave it unclear whether the finding of gross misconduct arose solely from the provision of the reference or from a wider range of allegations considered by the investigator and disciplinary panel,” he said.
“This is not a criticism of the disciplinary outcome itself. Nor is it an assertion that additional misconduct occurred. Rather, it is a request for clarity.”
Mr Lavery, a barrister, has held his post for seven years. An eminent figure, previous roles include chief executive of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, deputy permanent secretary of the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, and principal private secretary to the First Minister, from 1998-2001.
He is a visiting professor at Ulster University and in 2008 was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.