Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett will be interviewed for a seat on the Constitutional Court without the spectre of disciplinary proceedings hanging over his head.
In November, lawyer Paul Ngobeni complained to the Cape Bar Council about Gauntlett's conduct.
The chairman of the council, Ismail Jamie, said a subcommittee investigating Ngobeni's claim dismissed it.
"The committee found that there was no substance to the complaint," said Jamie.
Gauntlett, one of the most respected legal minds in the country, was snubbed by the Judicial Service Commission in his application for one of five judgeships vacant in the Cape High Court.
It was the fourth time he had been rejected by the commission.
In its latest rejection, it said Gauntlett was "acerbic" and had a "short thread".
The commission questioned his "humility".
Gauntlett complained in a Sunday Times report: "The JSC itself has gone to great trouble to list required attributes for judges. [Humility] has not been applied to any other candidate."
Ngobeni retorted that Gauntlett's statement was a "tactical manoeuvre to portray the JSC as infested with a bunch of incompetent and less intelligent persons".
He referred to Gauntlett's "retinue of celebrity supporters".
Gauntlett called Ngobeni's response "contrived".
He was nominated to the Constitutional Court by, among others, former Anglican archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
Gauntlett made it onto the Constitutional Court shortlist along with judges Selby Alan Masibonge Baqwa, Brian Solomon Spilg and Lebotsang Orphan Bosielo, and advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
According to the commission, the vacancy in the highest court in the land will arise when Judge Zak Yacoob is "discharged from active service" at the end of the month.
Interviews will be in Johannesburg on February 22.
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