JAUNCEY v LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES [1989] NSWCA 110

JAUNCEY v LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

Hope, MCHUGH and CLARKE JJA 2 December 1988, 1 February 1989 [1989] NSWCA 110

JUDGMENT A solicitor whose name had been removed from the Roll of Solicitors by the Solicitors' Statutory Committee appealed upon the grounds, inter alia, that fresh evidence demonstrated that the order made was inappropriate. The fresh evidence concerned his psychological condition at the time he misconducted himself and his work with the Aboriginal Legal service following the order of the Statutory Committee which was, by consent, stayed. The Law Society itself adduced fresh evidence of an instance of dishonesty which had not been disclosed to the Statutory Committee.

HELD: (McHugh JA dissenting) That the misconduct which the appellant admitted rendered him unfit to practise as a solicitor. ORDERS

The appeal is dismissed with costs.

McHugh JA I have had the advantage of reading the judgment of Clarke JA which sets out the relevant facts and issues. The facts which his Honour recites show beyond doubt that the order of the Statutory Committee was correct. If no more appeared, the appeal would be hopeless, as Mr James QC in his helpful and candid argument on behalf of the appellant conceded. But the fresh evidence of Dr Maguire and Mr Bernard Brassil puts a very different complexion on the matter.

Dr Maguire has expressed the view that the conduct of the appellant was part of a depressive illness arising from the breakdown of his marriage. He also expressed the view that the appellant's behaviour appeared "to be inconsistent with his basic personality". Dr Maguire, who gave psychiatric treatment to the appellant during 1988, concluded his report on him by saying:

"Tn my ten years as a practising Psychiatrist, I have seen quite a number of men who engage in some form of self-defeating or self-destructive behaviour as part of a depressive illness. His final act in using his client's cheque to lodge his appeal after his practising Certificate was cancelled is very typical of this.