Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Costigan [2013] NSWCA 407

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Costigan [2013] NSWCA 407 Hearing dates: 22 October 2013 Decision date: 04 December 2013 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Gleeson JA at [2]; Sackville AJA at [123] Decision: 1. Declare that the respondent is guilty of professional misconduct. 2. Declare that the respondent is not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of persons admitted as lawyers maintained by the Supreme Court of New South Wales under s 32 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) (the Roll). 3. Declare that the respondent is not a person of good fame and character. 4. Order that the name of the respondent be removed from the Roll. 5. Order the respondent to pay the applicant's costs of and incidental to these proceedings. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: LEGAL PRACTITIONERS - professional misconduct - application to have legal practitioner struck off the Roll of legal practitioners - dealing with trust moneys received in advance on account of legal costs - where contravention of s 252 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 - practicing without holding a practicing certificate - show cause events - whether fit and proper person to remain on the Roll Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004, ss 4, 5.5, 6, 14, 32, 55, 67,68, 78, 105, 243, 252, 309, 498, 504, 540, 590 Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2006, Sch 2[1]. Legal Profession Regulation 2005, rr 4, 106A Legal Profession Regulation 2002, r 133 Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1998, s 25A Road Transport Safety Act 1999, s 9 Tax Administration Act 1953, s 8G Cases Cited: Allinson v General Counsel of Medical Education and Registration [1894] 1 QB 750 A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2004] HCA 1; 216 CLR 253 Carr t/as Forshaws Neill v Swart [2007] NSWCA 337 Council of the NSW Bar Association v Power [2008] NSWCA 135; 71 NSWLR 451 Drayton v Martin (1996) 67 FCR 1 Law Society of New South Wales v Bannister (1993) 4 LPDR 24 Mee Ling v The Law Society of New South Wales [1974] 1 NSWLR 490 NSW Bar Association v Cummins [2001] NSWCA 284; 52 NSWLR 279 New South Wales Bar Association v Hamman [1999] NSWCA 404; 217 ALR 553 New South Wales Bar Association v Perry [2007] NSWCA 111 Our Town FM Pty Ltd v Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (No 1) (1987) 16 FCR 465 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of NSW v Alcorn [2007] NSWCA 288 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Kearns [2011] NSWCA 394 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v McCaffery [2004] NSWCA 470 R v Khazaal [2012] HCA 26; 86 ALJR 884 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the New South Wales Bar Association (Applicant) John Bernard Costigan (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: C Webster SC (Applicant) P Beazley (Solicitor) (Respondent) Solicitors: Hicksons Lawyers (Applicant) Beazley Singleton (Respondent) File Number(s): 2013/115495