The offices of the Legal Services Board and Commissioner will be closed from 2:00 pm on Wednesday 24 December 2014 and will re-open at 9:00 am on Monday 5 January 2014.

Former Dandenong North lawyer, Mr Luke Grosser, has been banned from holding a practising certificate until 31 December 2021 after being found guilty of a string of dishonesty offences.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Mr Grosser, who had surrendered his practicing certificate in early 2011, had made a series of dishonest representations in an attempt to further his professional career.

The Legal Services Commissioner charged Mr Grosser with offences relating to false statements he made over his academic records, his academic qualifications, his employment experience, faked references from previous employers, statements made to the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, and statements made to Centrelink.

The Commissioner also charged Mr Grosser with failing to provide information when it was requested of him.

Mr Grosser indicated that he would plead guilty to the Commissioner’s charges, however he did not appear at the hearing which proceeded in his absence.

Senior Member Smithers of VCAT found:

‘… Mr Grosser’s frequent, systematic and elaborate false statements over the two year period show he is not a person of honesty. There is no material on which I can conclude anything other than that he is unfit to practise permanently, or at least indefinitely.’

Mr Grosser was ordered not to hold a practising certificate until 31 December 2021 and was banned from working as a lay associate in a legal practice without the approval of the Legal Services Board. Mr Grosser was also fined a total of $6,000 and ordered to pay the Commissioner’s costs of $10,021.

VCAT recommended that Mr Grosser be referred to the Supreme Court to be removed from the local roll of practitioners.

For further information, download the VCAT decision (152KB PDF).

A solicitor who practised law without holding a practising certificate has been found guilty of unqualified legal practice.

In October 2014 the Magistrates’ Court found Ringwood sole practitioner, Mr Graeme Steart, guilty of one count of engaging in unqualified legal practice. The Legal Services Board brought the charge after it identified Mr Steart had been undertaking legal work without holding a current practising certificate.

In 2010 Mr Steart’s application to renew his practising certificate was refused after he failed to provide evidence that he held the required professional indemnity insurance coverage. Mr Steart was advised in late 2010 and again in late 2011 that without a current practising certificate, he was not entitled to practice law.

The Court heard that Mr Steart had been engaging in legal practice between May and December 2013. Mr Steart pleaded guilty and was fined $8,000 without conviction, and ordered to pay the Board’s costs of $3,500.

Please note: the Legal Services Commissioner has moved office

The Legal Services Commissioner has moved to a new office. Our contact details have changed. Our new contact details are:

Address:
Level 5, 555 Bourke Street Melbourne 3000
GPO Box 492 Melbourne 3001
Ausdoc: DX 185 Melbourne

Telephone:
Reception: 03 9679 8001
Practitioner Services: 03 9679 8000
LSB Online: 03 9679 8111
Fax: 03 9679 8101

Email: admin@lsbc.vic.gov.au
Web: www.lsbc.vic.gov.au

A former lawyer has received a three-year good behaviour bond after implying he was still entitled to undertake legal work.

Mr John Drummond, who was previously known as Mr Joseph Lo Presti, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to one charge of representing an entitlement to engage in legal practice when he was not authorised to practise law.

Mr Drummond’s name had been removed from the roll of legal practitioners held by the Supreme Court in 1993 following his conviction and imprisonment for offences arising out of his practice as a solicitor.

The Legal Services Board told the Court that in early 2012 Mr Drummond had offered to represent a woman in a claim over a testator family maintenance claim, and an associated legal costs dispute. Mr Drummond undertook work on behalf of the woman over approximately six months before sending her a statement of his fees and disbursements, totalling just under $20,000.

The Board contended that Mr Drummond had given the woman the impression that he was a practising lawyer. Mr Drummond had provided the woman with a business card which listed him as the manager of a firm called ‘Cavendish Chambers’ which purported to have expertise in litigation advice, funding and strategy. The card also stated that he held a University of Melbourne law degree.

The Court found Mr Drummond guilty of the charge and sentenced him to a three-year good behaviour bond. He was ordered not to hold himself out as a lawyer or as being qualified in law, not to work as legal practitioner, legal consultant, litigation advisor, strategist or funder, and not to work as a legal costs consultant.

Mr Drummond was also ordered to pay the Board’s costs fixed at $1,800.

A lay person who gave legal advice to tyre magnate Bob Jane has been found guilty of unqualified legal practice.

Mr Malcolm McClure was charged by the Legal Services Board with one count of unqualified legal practice after giving Mr Jane legal advice between October to December in 2011, and for drafting court documents and legal correspondence for a Federal Court matter.

As a consumer protection measure, the Legal Profession Act 2004 prohibits any person who is not a qualified lawyer from engaging in legal practice or from representing that they are entitled to practise law. Mr McClure did not have any legal qualifications.

In June 2014 the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court found Mr McClure guilty of the charge. He was convicted and fined $10,000.

Mr McClure appealed the decision to the County Court, and also attempted two separate appeals to the Supreme Court. Both of the Supreme Court appeals were summarily dismissed in August 2014, and Mr McClure was ordered to pay the Board’s costs.

In December 2014, the County Court heard Mr McClure’s appeal against the original Magistrates’ Court conviction and sentence. After an eight day hearing the Court found Mr McClure guilty. He was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order with the condition that he complete 300 hours of unpaid community work. Mr McClure was also ordered to pay over $39,000 in costs for both the County Court appeal and the original Magistrates’ Court hearing.

A new solicitor, who signed a statutory declaration containing statements which he knew to be false, has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard that Mr Quan Pham, of Noble Park, submitted a statutory declaration seeking to have the supervised legal practice condition removed from his practising certificate. Like all newly admitted lawyers, Mr Pham was required to demonstrate that he had been doing legal work under supervision for two years before he could have the condition removed.

Mr Pham commenced working for a small law practice in November 2011, before ceasing employment in July 2012. In August 2012 he applied to have the supervised legal practise condition removed. His statutory declaration stated that he had been employed as a solicitor for the whole of his time with the firm.

The Legal Services Commissioner told VCAT that Mr Pham did not receive his first practising certificate until February 2012, therefore he could not claim any work before he received his first practising certificate.

VCAT heard that Mr Pham claimed to have worked as a solicitor for 17.5 hours per day, seven days a week for the entirety of the seven and a half months he worked at the law firm, including the time before he held a practising certificate.

VCAT rejected Mr Pham’s calculations and determined that he had made statements in his statutory declaration which he knew to be false. Mr Pham was found him guilty of professional misconduct.

Senior Member Butcher of VCAT said:

‘The making of a declaration containing material which the deponent knew to be false is a clear breach of a practitioner’s duty of honesty and candour and diligence in relation to the contents of documents. A false declaration by a legal practitioner can only be seen as constituting professional misconduct.’

Mr Pham’s practising certificate was suspended until 30 June 2015, and for two years thereafter Mr Pham would only be entitled to practise as an employee. VCAT also specified that for the balance of Mr Pham’s supervised legal practice period, his work must be overseen by a principal of a practice he is employed by, who works on a full-time basis and is located at the same office. Mr Pham was further ordered to complete two additional CPD points in ethics and to pay the Commissioner’s costs.

Mr Pham has sought leave to appeal the decision.

For further information, download the VCAT decision.

RPA News #16: February 2015 is available for download (474KB PDF). This edition discusses the Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) e-conveyancing system rollout to Victoria.

A solicitor who was previously banned from practising law for four years has had his name removed from the Supreme Court’s roll of legal practitioners.

Mr Sammy Bektas, a former Melbourne personal injuries solicitor from Victorian Compensation Lawyers Pty Ltd, took the unusual step of applying to the Court to have his own name removed from the roll, meaning he will no longer be able to work as a lawyer. This application was fully supported by the Legal Services Commissioner, and CEO of the Legal Services Board, Michael McGarvie.

For further information, download the full media release.