Council of the Law Society of NSW v Ghobrial [2013] NSWADT 300

Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of NSW v Ghobrial [2013] NSWADT 300 Hearing dates: 21 November 2013 Decision date: 21 November 2013 Jurisdiction: Legal Services Division Before: Hon G Mullane - Judicial Member M Riordan - Judicial Member R Fitzgerald - Non-Judicial Member Decision: 1. Michael Ghobrial is reprimanded. 2. Mr Ghobrial must pay a fine of $4,000.00 on or before 31 May 2014. 3. Mr Ghobrial must by 31 March 2014 successfully complete an on-line course in Trust and Office Accounting approved by the Manager of the Professional Standards Department of the Law Society of NSW. 4. Mr Ghobrial must pay the costs of the Law Society of $4,000.00 by monthly instalments of $1,000.00 with the first payment on or before 31 January 2014 and the fourth payment on or before 30 April 2014. Catchwords: Solicitor - Trust funds - failure to bank Trust funds as soon as practicable - paying Vendor's costs from Purchaser's deposit without Purchaser's authority - Trust accounts in debit - failure to keep accurate records in respect of Trust moneys - receipts, cash books, cash payments, ledger account, and failure to prepare bank reconciliation for Trust account and Trust trial balance within 15 days of end of each month. Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004; Legal Profession Regulation 2005 Cases Cited: The Council of the Law Society of NSW -v- Lundy [2013] NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal 105 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of NSW (Applicant) Michael Ghobrial (Respondent) Representation: C Groenewegen (Applicant ) A Miller (Respondent ) File Number(s): 132014