Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Tsalidis (No 4) [2012] NSWADT 230

Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Tsalidis (No 4) [2012] NSWADT 230 Hearing dates: 14 and 15 August 2012 Decision date: 07 November 2012 Jurisdiction: Legal Services Division Before: M Chesterman, Deputy President M Riordan, Judicial Member C Bennett, Non-judicial Member Decision: 1. The Respondent is guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct under Grounds (i) to (iv) and professional misconduct under Ground (v). 2. For the purpose of scheduling a further hearing on the question of consequential orders, the matter is set down for directions at 9.30 a.m. on Monday 12 November 2012. Catchwords: Solicitor - disciplinary proceedings - failure to respond to correspondence from counsel and from Legal Aid Commission - failure to attend court for listings - failure to provide material from Crown brief to counsel - breach of Tribunal order Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 Cases Cited: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Tsalidis (No 2) [2010] NSWADT 297 Legal Services Commissioner v Tsalidis [2012] NSWADT 160 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) Charles Kiriakos Tsalidis (Respondent) Representation: Counsel C Webster (Applicant) P Kintomanis (Respondent) Law Society of NSW (Applicant) File Number(s): 122013

decision

Introduction 1On 27 June 2012, the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales ('the Law Society') filed an Application in the Tribunal alleging that the Respondent, Charles Kiriakos Tsalidis, had engaged in professional misconduct and in unsatisfactory professional conduct. 2The orders sought by the Law Society were as follows:- 1. The Respondent be fined. 2. The Respondent be reprimanded. 3. The Respondent is not to be permitted to hold a Principal Practising Certificate or to become a Solicitor/Director of any Incorporated Legal Practice until the expiration of 5 years cumulative practice as an employed Solicitor. 4. When the Respondent first applies to hold a Principal Practising Certificate or to become a Solicitor/Director of any Incorporated Legal Practice, after the period referred to in Order 3, any such application is to be accompanied by a report from a Psychiatrist or clinical Psychologist of the Respondent's choice and approved by the Manager for the time being of the Professional Standards Department, certifying the practitioner's medical and psychiatric fitness to practise in such capacity. 5.The Respondent pay the Applicant's costs. 6. Such other Orders as the Tribunal deems appropriate. 3On 27 June 2012, the Law Society also filed an affidavit sworn on the previous day by its solicitor, Ms Anne-Marie Foord. 4The Solicitor did not file a Reply or any evidence. 5At the hearing of this matter before us on 14 and 15 August 2012, Ms Webster of counsel appeared for the Law Society and Mr Kintomanis of counsel for the Respondent. On the second day of the hearing, we also dealt with other proceedings that the Law Society had commenced against the Respondent (in file 122016). 6We indicated that at this stage we would go no further than to receive evidence and submissions on the question whether the Respondent had engaged in professional misconduct and unsatisfactory professional conduct as alleged in the Application. The question of what consequential orders, if any, would be required would be deferred to a later hearing.