In Law Institute of Victoria v DSS [2008] VCAT 1179, the Institute sought in a misconduct prosecution an order that the solicitor not be allowed to handle trust monies for 50 years. Vice President Judge Ross described the submission as 'somewhat excessive'.
The solicitor had stolen $75,000 from his clients and out of his trust [...]

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Legal Services Commissioner v BH [2008] VCAT 687 is a case with terrible facts. A man died as a result of a crime. The family hired the respondent solicitor to act for them in crimes compensation applications. He lost the file some time into the second year of the retainer, but did [...]

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A decision of Senior Member Howell on 31 August 2007 has only just hit the screens: Legal Services Commissioner v IDE [2007] VCAT 2244.  A solicitor of 32 years' standing let a file fester in the too hard basket for too long and then 'buried his head in the sand' when the Bureau sent over [...]

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The definitions of the greater and lesser disciplinary offences under the Legal Practice Act, 1996 and the new Legal Profession Act, 2004 are different.  Under the old act, the one was distinguished from the other by the absence or presence or wilful contravention of norms, or recklessness as to whether conduct would contravene norms. No [...]

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Let's see if I can prompt any of you out of your commentless indolence with a question: what is the right thing to do when a self-represented man with self-evident psychosis characterised by florid delusions of a type which no sane person could possibly have sues your client? A friend of mine was appalled that [...]

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Here's an interesting case about lawyers, incapacitated clients, paternalism, and the right to be represented. An Alzheimers affected woman hired a beak to oppose a guardianship application brought by her brother. The court appointed another lawyer to act for her, suspecting that the man she professed to want to marry had in fact [...]

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PJQ v Law Institute of Victoria[2007] VSCA 122 is the part 1 of the last chapter in a story of good tactical plays characteristic of professional discipline specialist Sam Tatarka in the representation of a solicitor charged with gross overcharging, and applying trust monies to pay his fees without the appropriate paperwork. It sounds like [...]

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Legal Blog Watch has sent these details spinning around America's computer savvy legal fraternity:
'Lawyers Down Under Also Down
Most of us are already familiar with the sad fact that lawyers in the United States are more prone to depression than any other profession. But I was surprised to learn from this post at Legal Pad that [...]

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FD v New South Wales [2006] NSWSC 1407 is a case where a very difficult case for the plaintiff, in which mistakes were made, did not create, in the plaintiff's solicitor, an obligation, on the defendant's application, to pay costs personally. It was the Armidale District Women's Centre which sought the order against FD, a [...]

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In R v. Gabriel W [2006] VSC 397, a solicitor pleaded guilty to 13 crimes: 9 thefts, 3 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, and one trust account deficiency. He received more than $1 million in trust moneys from clients and gambled it away and appears to have been sentenced on the trust account [...]

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