The inquiry — sparked by two complaints from the legal fraternity — had investigated Mr Barton’s role in the destruction of records held by Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) that could have contained evidence helpful in abuse in care cases.
Anderson Lloyd, the firm where he was a partner for 24 years, in a social media post said Mr Barton was retiring.
The post said Mr Barton had made "immense contributions to the firm and the legal profession" and had an "extraordinary" career, adding that his "influence extends beyond the courtroom, with governance roles across education, community, and legal organisations, all underpinned by his deep commitment to justice and sustainability".
The Law Society website lists Mr Barton as a licensed barrister and Mr Barton said he had "made plans to retire from partnership several years ago with the intention of going to the independent Bar".
A Law Society spokesperson said Mr Barton had been re-elected as president for a third one-year term on April 11 and the Law Society viewed his shift to being a barrister to be "part of a long-planned transition".
Anderson Lloyd chief executive Richard Greenaway said the firm wished Mr Barton well.
"Frazer’s retirement from the firm was planned for several years and was not related to his time at PSO."
The inquiry into Mr Barton, which concluded in February, had revolved around an email exchange on February 3, 2016, between Mr Barton, a PSO board member for 27 years, and then-chief executive Gillian Bremner.
Ms Bremner had asked: "... on balance do you think we are best to destroy the rest of the files and keep only minimal info? The connection is with [name of staff member in charge of looking after the files] and I think when she retires in the next five years we would do just that as we would have no connection and frame of reference to that bit of history and no legal obligation to hold them."
Mr Barton responded one minute later: "Yes, I think so but at an appropriate milestone or anniversary."
Mr Barton’s exoneration by the inquiry was slammed at the time by University of Auckland ethics professor Tim Dare, who said Mr Barton should "absolutely not" remain as president of the Law Society.
The Network of Survivors of Faith Based Institutions said the inquiry was neither independent nor transparent and a source who had offered to provide evidence to the inquiry said they were only talked to in a "cursory" way.
