Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Clifton [2021] NSWCA 340

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Clifton [2021] NSWCA 340 Hearing dates: 10 December 2021 Decision date: 10 December 2021 Before: Leeming JA at [15], [17]; White JA at [16]; Brereton JA at [1] Decision: (1) The name of the respondent David Vincent Clifton be removed from the roll kept by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. (2) The respondent pay the applicant's costs. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONS – Legal practitioners – Solicitors – Removal from roll of solicitors – Recommendation by NCAT – Misuse of trust funds in the order of approximately $50,000 – Dishonesty and professional misconduct admitted by respondent solicitor – Submitting appearance filed – Court not required to revisit, review, or rehear proceedings – Court nevertheless required to be independently satisfied that removal from roll appropriate – Court so satisfied – Removal from roll ordered Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (NSW), rr 45, 47 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 23, 135, 138(1)(b), 145(1), 146, 147(2)(a), 148, 297(1), 302(1)(f) Cases Cited: A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (2004) 216 CLR 253; [2004] HCA 1 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Clifton [2021] NSWCATOD 101 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Leslie [2021] NSWCA 59 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Yoon [2020] NSWCA 141 Council of the Law Society of the ACT v Bandarage [2019] ACTSCFC 1 Dupal v Law Society of New South Wales (Court of Appeal (NSW), Kirby P, Priestley and Handley JJA, 26 April 1990, unrep) Law Society of the ACT v Powrie (2017) 12 ACTLR 184; [2017] ACTSCFC 4 Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Henderson [2017] VSC 202 Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Horak [2016] VSC 780 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) David Vincent Clifton (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: PA Maddigan (Applicant) Submitting appearance (Respondent)