Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Feng [2023] NSWCATOD 129

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Feng [2023] NSWCATOD 129 Hearing dates: 14 July 2023 Date of orders: 20 July 2023 Decision date: 30 August 2023 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: Hennessy ADCJ, Deputy President N Matkovich, Senior Member B Thomson, General Member Decision: 1. The Respondent is guilty of professional misconduct. 2. The Tribunal recommends that the name of the Respondent be removed from the roll maintained by the Supreme Court of NSW pursuant to s 23 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). 3. The Respondent is to pay the Applicant's costs of these proceedings as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONS – legal practitioners – discipline – instrument of consent filed - whether the Tribunal should exercise the power in s 144(1) the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (the Application Act) to make the orders agreed to by the parties without making any further inquiries or conducting a hearing Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW) Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (NSW) Cases Cited: A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (2004) 216 CLR 253; [2004] HCA 1 Barakat v Law Society of New South Wales [2014] NSWSC 773 Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Butland [2009] NSWADT 177 Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v EFA (a pseudonym) [2021] NSWCA 339 NSW Legal Services Commissioner v Lal [2022] NSWCATOD 144 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) James Jianshu Feng (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: G Westgarth (Applicant)