Closing arguments underway in Lyle Howe disciplinary hearing

The disciplinary hearing for Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe has entered what is supposed to be its final chapter as closing arguments began Tuesday.

The Nova Scotia Barristers' Society accuses Howe of professional misconduct and professional incompetence.

Howe, in response, alleges he is a victim of systemic racism. He says the complaints that form the basis of the society hearing are unfair because other lawyers do the same things without penalty.

• ANALYSIS | How Lyle Howe made race the centre of his disciplinary hearing

The three-member disciplinary panel has sat for 58 days since it began 15 months ago. The panel has heard from 40 witnesses and the hearing has generated more than 10,000 pages of transcript. The hearing was originally expected to take about a week.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes liveblogged from today's hearing.