Lawyer who disparaged fellow lawyer on Twitter suspended for two years in UK

A lawyer who posted ‘seriously offensive, abusive and publicly
disparaging’ tweets about another barrister has been suspended from
practice for two years.

Barbara Hewson, called to the bar in 1985, was charged with
professional misconduct by the Bar Standards Board over a series of
tweets posted between 2017 and 2019, and a blog published this
year.

An independent disciplinary tribunal found the posts were
‘seriously offensive, abusive and publicly disparaging towards
another barrister’, with some directed at that barrister’s
competence and reputation.

It also found they were ‘obscene or seriously offensive in terms
of the language used’ and ‘disparaging of the BSB’s regulatory
process thereby undermining public trust and confidence in that
process and thus in the profession’.

A BSB spokesperson said: ‘As the tribunal found, and Ms Hewson
accepted, a barrister’s actions on social media can diminish the
trust and confidence which the public places in individual
barristers and the profession. The tribunal’s decision to suspend
her from practice for two years demonstrates the serious
consequences that can arise from such offensive and abusive
behaviour online.’

The tribunal’s decision is open to appeal.

lawgazette.co.uk

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