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The Law Society chief executive has been found "guilty of gross misconduct" following a character reference he provided to a cousin convicted of serious sexual offences. David Lavery had provided a character reference to a court after the conviction of former schoolteacher William Lloyd-Lavery. The Law Society said an independent disciplinary panel "determined that the appropriate sanction that the Chief Executive received a sanction short of dismissal". Lavery declined to exercise his right to appeal. Last month, Lavery was sacked from his role as a human rights commissioner but he remained in post as chief executive of the Law Society of Northern Ireland.