Council of the Law Society of NSW v Gurusamy [2019] NSWCATOD 89

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of NSW v Gurusamy [2019] NSWCATOD 89 Hearing dates: 27 May 2019 Date of orders: 12 June 2019 Decision date: 12 June 2019 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: Naida Isenberg, Senior Member M Riordan, Senior Member B Thomson, Member Decision: The solicitor is guilty of professional misconduct in relation to grounds 1 – 8 of the Application.

Orders: 1) the solicitor is reprimanded. 2) the solicitor is to pay a fine of $5,000 3) the solicitor is to pay the costs of the Law Society as agreed or assessed Catchwords: PROFESSIONS AND TRADES - lawyers - trust accounts - professional misconduct – receipt of trust money – no file register - commission paid to third party without client knowledge - Instrument of Consent Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) Legal Profession Uniform Law Solicitors Conduct Rules 2015 Cases Cited: Allinson v General Council of Medical Education and Registration [1894] 1 QB 750 Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Breeze [2015] NSWCATOD 152 Law Society of New South Wales v Walsh [1997] NSWCA 185 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Law Society of New South Wales (Applicant) Baskaran Gurusamy (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Law Society of NSW ( Applicant) Gnana-Karan Solicitors and Barristers (Respondent) File Number(s): 2018/00350195