David Bruce Peart [1995] NSWLST 4

The Legal Services Tribunal of New South Wales

CITATION : David Bruce Peart [1995] NSWLST 4 PARTIES : David Bruce Peart FILE NUMBER(S) : of 1994 CORAM: Mr F Herron (Presiding Member) - Mr G B Molloy - Mr N. Reidy CATCHWORDS: Professional Misconduct - breach of s. 61 of the Legal Profession Act :- Solicitor improperly allowed a person to handle trust funds LEGISLATION CITED: Legal Profession Act 1987 CASES CITED: In the matter of Ian Gordon Dun (1994 3 LPDR 5 at 6-7) DATES OF HEARING: 9 June, 10 June and 13 December 1994 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 02/08/1995 LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: For Law Society of NSW: Mr D. Hipsley instructed by Mr F. Riley. For the Solicitor: Mr G.C. Lindsay instructed by Messrs Lloyd and Lloyd.

JUDGMENT:

Finding of professional misconduct in that: 1. The solicitor improperly allowed a person to handle trust funds. 2. The solicitor allowed funds which should have been held in his trust account to be paid out contrary to instructions. 3. The solicitor breached Section 61.

Finding of unsatisfactory professional misconduct in that the solicitor falsely certified that he had not held or disbursed trust money or controlled money within the meaning of Section 61(8). Ordered that the solicitor not be issued with a practising certificate until 1-7-95, the solicitor to undertake further legal education and thereafter be issued with a restricted practising certificate for five years.

In 1990 the solicitor allowed himself to be so influenced by a Mr James Harding, a confidence trickster (more colloquially called a "con man") that he allowed moneys that were unarguably trust moneys to be passed through his office account and he allowed another person, a Mr Bill McKay, to have access to those moneys by providing Mr McKay with signed blank cheques.