Lawyer commits suicide

FRED GOEIEMAN The legal fraternity in Windhoek reacted with shock and horror to the news of the death of prominent Windhoek lawyer Chris Brandt, who committed suicide yesterday morning.Brandt was due to appear in the High Court yesterday morning to defend an application by the Law Society of Namibia for his temporary suspension as legal practitioner, pending disciplinary procedures.He shot himself at around 06:00 at the gate of his home in Windhoek’s Luxury Hill area.Government attorney Matti Asino expressed shock at the untimely death of Brandt, whom he had known since 1992.“During his time Brand demanded high performance and was very meticulous in the drafting of pleadings, notices and demand letters and so on,” Asino recalled.He said Brandt was an excellent lawyer and added that he had such a deep, commanding voice that his subordinates would pay immediate attention.Others said he was a kind and dedicated person.Brandt was admitted as an attorney on 12 May 1978. He served as assistant government attorney and later deputy state attorney.He resigned as government attorney in August 1998 and opened his own law firm, Chris Brandt Attorneys.The urgent application by the Law Society of Namibia was for the temporary suspension of Brandt pending a disciplinary hearing.In their application, they asked for the appointment of a legal representative to control and administer Brandt’s trust account and affairs pending the determination of disciplinary proceedings.The society alleged that Brandt, in a letter on 9 August 2018, informed or confessed to them that he had been making unauthorised transfers from his trust account to his business account since January 2018 to cover salaries and overhead expenses.“In the correspondence Brandt expressed ‘regret for the fait accompli’ and undertook to rectify the situation on or before 21 August 2018.”The society said the fact that he had confessed necessitated the application.“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Brandt is guilty of unprofessional, dishonourable or unworthy conduct. The conduct in question is serious in nature and it in public interest and that of his clients that he be prevented from carrying on his practice until the proceedings have been finalised,” the society said.Legal practitioners are required to keep books of the account that distinguishes monies received and monies paid into an account from those monies received, held or paid by him for the account of another person.“The latter is what is called a trust account. An amount standing to the credit of the legal practitioner’s trust account is not regarded as forming part of the assets of the legal practitioner,” the society explained.“The rules make it clear that any material breach of the provisions of the act or the rules, constitutes unprofessional conduct.”Brandt had opposed the application, saying that a temporary suspension would cause him irreparable harm. He had numerous clients who owed him more than N$2 million, he stated in his court papers.“Any kind of suspension shall have a catastrophic and serious impact on my existing clientele and cause me irreparable harm for the remaining part of my professional practice. I need to practice until all my pending matters have been duly disposed of,” Brandt had pleaded.He submitted that the temporary suspension be dismissed or alternatively postponed until the disciplinary hearing had been finalised.

Lawyer commits suicide

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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Lawyer commits suicide

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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