Law Society of NSW v Rickard [2013] NSWADT 262

Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Law Society of NSW v Rickard [2013] NSWADT 262 Hearing dates: 25 September 2013 Decision date: 25 September 2013 Jurisdiction: Legal Services Division Before: G Mullane, Judicial Member N Isenberg, Judicial Member R Fitzgerald, Non-Judicial Member Decision: 1. The Tribunal hereby prohibits any law practice from employing or paying the respondent Donna Louise Rickard in connection with the Legal Practice engaged in by the law practice without approval under section 17 of the Legal Profession Act 2004. 2.The respondent must pay the applicant $2,500.00 for its costs of and incidental to these proceedings. Catchwords: Lay associate to law practice - Fraudulent conduct - Order prohibiting any law practice from employing or paying. Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Law Society of NSW (Applicant)

Donna Louise Rickard (Respondent ) Representation: Ms C Groenewegan for the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) No appearance (Respondent) File Number(s): 132007

reasons for decision

INTRODUCTION 1The applicant in these proceedings is the Law Society of NSW and the respondent, who was from August 2008 until August 2011 a lay associate of the law practice trading as Paul Ward Harvey & Co in Sydney. The applicant seeks an order under s 18 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 prohibiting any law practice from employing or paying the respondent in connection with the legal practice engaged in by the law practice without approval under s 17 of the Act. 2The applicant also seeks an order for the respondent to pay the applicant's costs of the proceedings.