Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Braham [2015] NSWCATOD 98

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Braham [2015] NSWCATOD 98 Hearing dates: 13 July 2015 Decision date: 21 September 2015 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: D Fairlie Senior Member M Riordan Senior Member E Hayes General member Decision: (1) That pursuant to section 119 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), the Respondent be disqualified indefinitely.

(2) That the Respondent pay the Law Society's costs as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: Lay Associate – conduct warranting an order under s 119 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 Legal Profession Act 2004 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitor's Conduct Rules 2015 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) Berkeley Braham (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: C Groenewegen (Applicant) No appearance (Respondent) File Number(s): 1420364

Reasons for decision 1. In these proceedings, the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales ("The Law Society") seeks an order prohibiting any law practice from employing or paying Berkeley Braham ("the Respondent") without the consent of the Law Society and an order that the Respondent pay its costs of the proceedings. 2. The prohibition order was sought pursuant to s 18 (2) of the Legal Profession Act 2004 ("the LP Act"). That sub-section provides that on the application of the Law Society, this Tribunal may make an order prohibiting any law practice (without the Law Society's consent under s 17 of the LP Act ), from employing or paying a specified person if: 1. the Tribunal is satisfied that the person is not a fit and proper person to be employed or paid in connection with the legal practice, or 2. The Tribunal is satisfied that the person has been guilty of conduct that, if the person were an Australian legal practitioner, would have constituted unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. 1. S 18 (1) of the LP Act provides that the section applies to persons who are or were lay associates of a law practice or who are or were employed by that practice.