Council of the Law Society of NSW v Brincat [2020] NSWCATOD 108

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of NSW v Brincat [2020] NSWCATOD 108 Hearing dates: 3 September 2020 Date of orders: 16 September 2020 Decision date: 16 September 2020 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: M Schyvens, Deputy President The Hon F Marks, Principal Member Decision: We order that the respondent Lisa Brincat is disqualified indefinitely under the provisions of s 119 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). Catchwords: PROFESSIONS AND TRADES – lay associate of law practice – used trust monies of the law firm for her personal benefit and caused trust account irregularities by intermixing trust monies with other monies – finding that conduct constituted grounds for indefinite disqualification – costs order refused. Legislation Cited: Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) Architects Act 2003 (NSW) Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 (NSW) Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW), ss 60, 60(3)(d); cl 23 of Sch 5 Commercial Agents and Private Inquiry Agents Act 2004 (NSW) Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 (NSW) Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) Health Care Complaints Act 1993 (NSW) Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 119, 119(1), 119(1)(b), 119(2), 119(2)(b), 119(2)(d), 121, 122, 296, 297; Chapter 4 Business practice and professional conduct Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) Passenger Transport Act 1990 (NSW) Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Act 2016 (NSW) Public Notaries Act 1997 (NSW) Security Industry Act 1997 (NSW) Surveying and Spatial Information Act 2002 (NSW) Tattoo Parlours Act 2012 (NSW) Tow Truck Industry Act 1998 (NSW) Veterinary Practice Act 2003 (NSW) Wool, Hide and Skin Dealers Act 2004 (NSW) Cases Cited: Barwick v Council of the Law Society of NSW [2004] NSWCA 32 Council of the Law Society of NSW v Braham [2015] NSWCATOD 98 Council of the Law Society of NSW v Hughes [2013] NSWADT 224 Texts Cited: None cited Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of NSW (Applicant) Lisa Brincat (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Council of the Law Society of NSW (Applicant) Respondent (No appearance) File Number(s): 2019/00366846 Publication restriction: Non-publication order with respect to the names of any persons who were clients of the Law Firm, Heard McEwan Legal and any other persons named or referred to in the Application, apart from the Respondent, and any material which might tend to identify any such persons.