The Swedish Bar Association faces criticism for allowing disbarred lawyers to continue working in law firms and even promoting them on its website. Despite promises to prevent such practices, several disbarred lawyers are still active, raising concerns about the association's ability to address misconduct within its ranks.
Controversy Surrounds Swedish Bar Association's Handling of Disbarred Lawyers
Controversy Surrounds Swedish Bar Association's Handling of Disbarred Lawyers
The Swedish Bar Association's promise: Disbarred lawyers should not continue working at law firms. Despite this, I find example after example of disbarred lawyers doing just that—and even being promoted on the Bar Association's website. This is yet another example of the Bar Association's inability to handle misconduct within its ranks.
The Bar Association strikes back forcefully in its latest annual report. After initially dismissing the issues with so-called 'gangster lawyers' as isolated cases and later attempting to ignore the problem, the association is now launching a broad counterattack.
Now, the messengers are being targeted.
Meanwhile, an investigator appointed by Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer has been tasked with developing proposals to strengthen trust in public defenders. When the investigator received the assignment, the Justice Minister was also clear that self-regulation within the association must be intensified.
In light of this, the Bar Association's counterattack is peculiar.
Instead of acknowledging the existing problems and demonstrating that the issues are taken seriously, the association does the opposite.
In the opening remarks of the report, Secretary General Mia Edwall Insulander writes:
"If one focuses on certain media reports in 2024, it can be noted that there are those who neither respect nor understand an independent legal profession."
She is particularly upset by my proposal that conversations between high-risk prisoners in Fenix units and lawyers should be recorded—and links to it in the preface.
In several cases, the lawyer-client relationships in the Fenix units appear highly suspicious, creating a need for random checks. Of course, not by police and prosecutors, but rather by a highly respected jurist from, for example, the Security and Integrity Protection Board.
The Secretary General argues in the association's annual report that this shows a "stunning ignorance of the importance of confidentiality."
She may think so, but I note that she herself seems stunningly ignorant of how serious the misconduct is—and uninterested in addressing the problem. She should also recognize the risks with Fenix prisoners' pseudo-appointments.
Some measures have been taken, such as increased requirements for criminal defense lawyers in complex cases, higher penalties in disciplinary cases, and a supervisory unit working proactively.
I am skeptical about whether this is enough.
The Bar Association also makes a big deal in the annual report of the Secretary General's promise that disbarred lawyers will no longer be able to work at law firms.
"If you are a client and turn to a law firm for legal advice, you should be sure that the individuals have not been disbarred," claimed Mia Edwall Insulander in a DN interview in December.
The promise turned out to be worthless.
In my column about the recent disbarment of Karin Wålander, I note that she still works at the same law firm as before but now titles herself as an associate lawyer.
In the final stages of the book "Misconduct in the Legal Profession," I noted more similar cases: The lawyer who was disbarred after smuggling love letters for a client is also presented as an associate lawyer at a law firm in Stockholm.
Even the lawyer in Gothenburg who was disbarred in a case involving a suspected fabricated alibi is an associate lawyer at a firm.
There are more similar examples of disbarred lawyers who—despite the Secretary General's words—continue to work at law firms.
And that's not all.
The Bar Association has a service on its website where lawyers and associate lawyers are promoted. In this search service, six disbarred lawyers are now presented as associate lawyers. However, the Bar Association does not inform that they have been disbarred.
These are former lawyers who, in some cases, were forced to leave the association after serving criminal interests and in other cases were found to be grossly unsuitable and lacking judgment for other reasons.
Why are they even presented on the Bar Association's website without any information about their disbarment? This again shows that the association and the Secretary General are stunningly incapable of handling misconduct within the legal profession.
The Bar Association's Secretary General Mia Edwall Insulander announces that her press secretary will follow up on the matter.