Anthony William Oliver [1993] NSWLST 18

The Legal Services Tribunal of New South Wales

CITATION : Anthony William Oliver [1993] NSWLST 18 PARTIES : ANTHONY WILLIAM OLIVER FILE NUMBER(S) : of 1992 CORAM: Mr C. Robison (Presiding Member) - Mrs J. Bartos - Mr P. Boesenberg Professional Misconduct - breach of s. 61 of the Legal Profession Act - Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct - mislead Law Society/Bar Association/LSC :- wilfully contravened Section 61 of the Act breached his personal undertaking CATCHWORDS: and engaged in misleading conduct Section 163 of the Act LEGISLATION CITED: Legal Profession Act 1987 CASES CITED: DATES OF HEARING: DATE OF JUDGMENT: 10/22/1993 Mr D. Hipsley (Instructed by Mr Martin Watts, Solicitor) appeared on behalf of the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales. LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr David De Carvalho, solicitor, of Carroll & O'Dea, appeared on behalf of Mr Oliver.

JUDGMENT:

By a letter dated 17 September 1992 addressed to the President of the Law Society of New South Wales, Mrs Carmel Therese Seymour of Tamworth lodged a complaint against Mr Anthony William Oliver (the Solicitor"). In that letter (which was not received by the Solicitor until 7 October or by the Law Society until 9 October 1992) Mrs Seymour was critical of certain payments allegedly made by the Solicitor from an investment account number 020 261 101 with the St George Building Society (as it then was) in the joint names of Mrs Carmel Therese Seymour and her husband Mr Paul Seymour ("the Account"). It was common ground that the Solicitor acted for Mr Seymour and that the Account constituted "controlled money" for the purposes of Section 61(8) of the Legal Profession Act 1987 ("the Act").