RAPHAEL v THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES [1991] NSWCA 234

RAPHAEL v THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

MAHONEY JA 23 September 1991

[1991] NSWCA 234

Mahoney JA (Motion)

This is an application in respect of the practice of Mr David Keith Louis Raphael. Proceedings have been brought against Mr Raphael by the Law Society and the Disciplinary Tribunal has made orders to the effect that Mr Raphael be struck off the register of solicitors. Mr Raphael has appealed to this Court against the orders made.

The orders were made on 5 September 1991. The appeal papers have not yet been prepared but no doubt they can be prepared if necessary with expedition. The application is for a stay of the effect of the orders pending the determination of the appeal to this Court.

It is not necessary for me to attempt to detail all the relevant circumstances. The nature of the complaints made against Mr Raphael were detailed before the court by Mr Conti QC, who appeared for him on the present application.

I put the matter briefly, and therefore to some extent inaccurately, when I indicate that until approximately 1985 the solicitor's practice was conducted upon a basis which was, as subsequently was found by the Disciplinary Tribunal, quite unsatisfactory. It was unsatisfactory, I am informed, for a number of reasons.

These reasons related to the manner in which the trust account was kept and, it was alleged, the intermingling of the solicitor's moneys with those of his client. It was said that certificates in relation to the trust account had wrongly been given by the solicitor, that is, that they were not accurate to an extent which would involve a breach of the relevant legislation.

The solicitor brought the matter to the attention of the Law Society in or about 1985. There was an application to the court for the appointment of a receiver of the solicitor's practice. Ultimately that application did not succeed. In March 1989 or thereabouts the application was determined. The complaint upon the basis of which the present orders were made was not made until June 1990. The solicitor continued to carry on his practice between the date on which he notified the Law Society of the need for it to investigate the position - I put that matter generally - and the present time.