Disgraced lawyer strikes himself off

Evgeny Orlov

A lawyer has escaped further punishment after opting to remove himself from the roll of barristers and solicitors in the face of disciplinary action from his professional body.

Evgeny Orlov was struck off the roll by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal in 2013, but successfully appealed the charge to the High Court, where the strike-off was thrown out.

Mr Orlov had faced charges brought by the Law Society's national standards committee, including charges that he had made allegations about a High Court Judge on a number of occasions which were either false or were made without sufficient foundation.

In the latest decision from the tribunal, a stay of proceedings was granted when Mr Orlov said he would voluntarily agree to to being removed from the roll of barristers and solicitors.

Mr Orlov told the tribunal there was no public protective purpose for the case to proceed against him because he had no intention to practise in New Zealand as a lawyer.

He maintained he entirely denied having been negligent or incompetent of having breached any rules.

However, the tribunal said that was up to a substantive hearing, which wouldn't need to go ahead if Mr Orlov didnt practice in New Zealand.

Mr Orlov and the Law Society agreed to have him removed from the roll and proceedings were abandoned.

The Law Society incurred costs from the tribunal of $16,000.

Mr Orlov previously represented former Zion Wildlife Garden operator Patricia Busch during a long-running feud between her and her son, 'Lion Man' Craig Busch.