Tweet Joseph Vella purchased a knife and a black beanie and then turned up to his estranged wife’s door two days later in their company. In his quiver he also sported a baseball bat. He bashed her head in with the bat and then slit her throat with the knife. Charged with murder, he admitted [...]
Entries Tagged as 'negligence as disciplinary breach'
Counsel’s discretion as to trial tactics
April 14th, 2011 · 1 Comment
Tags: Discipline · duty to court · Ethics · litigation ethics · negligence as disciplinary breach
Incompetence as ‘unsatisfactory professional conduct’
December 7th, 2010 · No Comments
Tweet A barrister in NSW is being prosecuted for being incompetent in the presentation of a criminal appeal: Council of the NSW Bar Association v DCF [2010] NSWADT 291. The incompetence of his written submissions are said to amount to unsatisfactory professional conduct. Section 496 of the Legal Profession Act, 2004 (NSW) says that unsatisfactory [...]
Tags: Discipline · negligence as disciplinary breach · Unsatisfactory conduct
NSW Court of Appeal on difference between ‘professional misconduct’ and ‘unsatisfactory professional conduct’
February 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Tweet The distinction between ‘professional misconduct’ and ‘unsatisfactory professional conduct’ is usually elusive. Guidance from an appellate court in relation to cognate legislation is therefore valuable. It seems that one instance of ‘incredibly sloppy’ work involving innocent false representations being made to the other side, if it is comprised of a series of closely related [...]
Tags: appeals · Discipline · Legal Profession Act · Misconduct · negligence as disciplinary breach · Unsatisfactory conduct
Solicitor who blatantly lied to clients for years keeps ticket
April 29th, 2008 · No Comments
Tweet 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 not tell [...]
Tags: "disgraceful and dishonourable" · common law · Discipline · mental illness · Misconduct · negligence as disciplinary breach · prosecutorial failures
Legal Services Commissioner publishes annual report
June 30th, 2007 · No Comments
Tweet The Legal Services Commissioner’s website is growing some content. Her annual report for the part-financial year ending 2006 is published there. In summary: For those who enjoy the suffering of others, commencing at p. 22 there is a list of all the adverse disciplinary findings made by VCAT’s Legal Practice List, and it names [...]
Tags: conflicts · Discipline · Ethics · Legal Profession Act · Legal Services Commissioner · Misconduct · Negligence · negligence as disciplinary breach · Professional fees and disbursements · VCAT
Can you be prosecuted for mere negligence?
January 17th, 2007 · No Comments
Tweet There is no doubt that mere negligence cannot constitute misconduct in the traditional concept of that expression: Myers v Elman [1940] AC 282 at 288; Re Hodgekiss (1959) 62 SR(NSW) 340 at 351; Re Veron (1966) 84 WN (Pt 1) (NSW) 136 at 143 (CA); Re Miles (1966) 84 WN (Pt1) (NSW) 163 at [...]
Tags: civil-disciplinary interplay · Discipline · Misconduct · negligence as disciplinary breach · Unsatisfactory conduct
Non-disclosure of own negligence founds unsatisfactory conduct conviction
March 31st, 2006 · 1 Comment
Tweet Law Institute of Victoria v PJR [2006] VCAT 293 (see the associated pecuniary loss dispute decision here) The Law Institute prosecuted a solicitor for misconduct constituted by simply missing a time limit. That failed, as did most of the other charges. But he was convicted of unsatisfactory conduct in not telling his client for [...]
Tags: amendment · civil-disciplinary interplay · conflicts · costs · Discipline · duty and interest · negligence as disciplinary breach · procedure · prosecutorial failures · Unsatisfactory conduct

