Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Cassidy (being the former principal of ZZZ Pty Ltd – an incorporated legal practice trading as ZZ) [2018] NSWSC 2008

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Cassidy (being the former principal of ZZZ Pty Ltd – an incorporated legal practice trading as ZZ) [2018] NSWSC 2008 Hearing dates: 21 December 2018 Decision date: 21 December 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: 1. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 341(2) of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (Uniform Law) David Lombe, Chartered Accountant, be and is hereby appointed Receiver for the Law Practice formerly known as ZZZ Pty Ltd trading as ZZ formerly situated at Suite 80, 171 Gloucester Street, The Rocks, NSW 2000 (Law Practice). 2. The Receiver shall within one month and thereafter, from time to time furnish to the Plaintiff such reports of his Receivership as the Plaintiff may require and that no further or other reports need be furnished by the Receiver. 3. Until further order, the Defendant and her servants or agents are restrained from: (a) removing, or causing or permitting to be removed, from the State of New South Wales; (b) selling, charging, mortgaging or otherwise dealing with or disposing of; and/or (c) causing or permitting to be sold, charged, mortgaged or otherwise dealt with or disposed of, all or any of her assets within the State of New South Wales without first obtaining the leave of the Plaintiff or of the Court to do so, provided that the Order shall not prevent the Defendant from paying her ordinary living and practice expenses up to the sum of $1,000.00 per week. 4. The Defendant, by 17 January 2019, shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Plaintiff an Affidavit sworn by the Defendant setting out: (a) the particulars of any accounts in any name upon which the Defendant is entitled to operate in any capacity, including the name and address of each bank, building society or other financial institution, the name of the account, the account number and the balance of the account at the date of service of this order upon her; (b) the name and address of any person or entity indebted to the Law Practice and/or the Defendant at the date of service of a copy of the Order upon it and/or her and the amount of the debt or debts owed by such person or entity; (c) an itemised inventory of any business assets owned by the Law Practice and/or the Defendant; (d) an itemised inventory of any other property, whether real or personal, owned by the Law Practice and/or the Defendant or in respect of which the Law Practice and/or the Defendant has an interest; and (e) in respect of any of the property referred to above, whether it has been given as security for any debt, and, if so, the nature of the security and the debt so secured. Catchwords: LEGAL PROFESSION – application by Law Society for appointment of a receiver to a law practice following complaint of misappropriation – where defendant no longer a director of the law practice Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 341(3), 365 Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (NSW) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of New South (plaintiff) Christina Helen Cassidy (being the former principal of ZZZ – an incorporated legal practice trading as ZZ) (defendant) Representation: C Flax (solicitor for the plaintiff) K Emanual (solicitor for the defendant)