William John Barclay [1997] NSWLST 8

The Legal Services Tribunal of New South Wales

CITATION : William John Barclay [1997] NSWLST 8 PARTIES : William John Barclay FILE NUMBER(S) : of 1996 CORAM: Mr G Molloy (Chairperson) - Mr M. Barnes - Ms K. Elliott CATCHWORDS: Professional Misconduct - fail to act honestly - Professional Misconduct - misappropriate trust moneys/moneys :- misappropriated clients' money. LEGISLATION CITED: Legal Profession Act 1987 CASES CITED: DATES OF HEARING: 12 August, 1997 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 08/12/1997 LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr G. J. Still Mr E. Bramble

JUDGMENT:

The solicitor aged 78 at the time of the proceedings before the Tribunal was found to have dishonestly misappropriated or wrongfully applied clients' money over a period from about 1969 to 1994. The Tribunal found the solicitor guilty of professional misconduct and ordered that his name be removed from the Roll of Legal Practitioners. He was also ordered to pay the costs of the Law Society.

Chairman : This is probably one of the saddest cases to come before this Tribunal in recent years. The solicitor is aged 78 and has served some time in gaol as a result of his mis-doings.

As is often the case in a matter of this nature, the actions of the solicitor could have been avoided by proper application of common sense and adherence to the principles that underpin the proper practice of law.

The solicitor embarked upon a trail of misappropriation and unarguable misconduct since about 1969 and has spent most of the balance of his life living a lie trying to paper over the problems created about 28 years ago. He was admitted to practice on 20 March 1953. He was the sole proprietor of W. J. Barclay & Co. and by 1989 was sufficiently experienced to recognise that his conduct was improper and he should have realised at that stage that if he continued that improper conduct ultimately the day would come where disciplinary proceedings would be commenced against him. He must also have realised with the application of common logic that there was a very fair chance that criminal proceedings would also be preferred against him. But notwithstanding this he persisted in his conduct.