Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Kinchington [2017] NSWCA 278

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Kinchington [2017] NSWCA 278 Hearing dates: 12 October 2017 Date of orders: 12 October 2017 Decision date: 31 October 2017 Before: Basten JA; Macfarlan JA; Ward JA Decision: (1) Declare that Michael Leon Kinchington has been guilty of professional misconduct.

(2) Declare that Michael Leon Kinchington is not a person of good fame and character and is not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of Australian lawyers maintained pursuant to s 22 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law.

(3) Order that the name of Michael Leon Kinchington be removed from the roll.

(4) Order that Michael Leon Kinchington pay the costs of the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales of these proceedings.

(5) Direct that the Law Society serve on Mr Kinchington a copy of this judgment in accordance with the provisions for substituted service. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONS – legal practitioners – application to remove solicitor from roll of Australian lawyers – solicitor forged client's signature on costs agreement –convicted of publishing false statement to obtain financial advantage – whether solicitor guilty of professional misconduct – whether solicitor not person of good fame and character – whether solicitor's name should be removed from roll Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 192G, 254 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 4, 22, 55, 67 Cases Cited: A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (2004) 216 CLR 253; [2004] HCA 1 Ex parte Tziniolis; Re Medical Practitioner's Act (1966) 67 SR (NSW) 448 New South Wales Bar Association v Davis (1963) 109 CLR 428; [1963] HCA 31 NSW Bar Association v Cummins (2001) 52 NSWLR 279; [2001] NSWCA 284 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Leon Nikolaidis [2010] NSWCA 73 Prothonotary v Gregory [2017] NSWCA 101 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) Michael Leon Kinchington (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Ms C Webster SC/Mr H El-Hage (Applicant)