Cr Michael Laws was cleared of wrongdoing after a code of conduct complaint against him by council chief executive Sarah Gardner in November.
But the council’s code of conduct itself was found to be inadequate.
Len Andersen QC said the council was fortunate the complaint had not been upheld.
Any other result and the council could have faced litigation as to what the code of conduct meant, he said.
Councillors yesterday directed Mrs Gardner to engage Bruce Robertson, from R Bruce Robertson Ltd, to review the issues Mr Andersen had raised.
A staff report that went to yesterday’s council meeting said Mr Robertson was "active" in undertaking code of conduct reviews in New Zealand and had been increasingly working with councils to find alternative solutions to the complaints process.
Cr Laws argued that councillors should instead sit down with the chief executive and together create a new fit-for-purpose code.
Cr Gretchen Robertson said Cr Laws hit the nail on the head with his suggestion.
Cr Gary Kelliher supported a review by Mr Robertson, but also endorsed sitting down as a group with the chief executive to discuss a new code of conduct.
ORC chairman Andrew Noone said Mr Robertson was an independent person who "potentially comes in with a broader knowledge of what a code of conduct was about".
The motion passed in a 7-4 vote.
Crs Laws, Robertson, Alexa Forbes and Bryan Scott voted against.
