Council of the Law Society of NSW v Thadsanamorthy [2019] NSWCATOD 96

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the Law Society of NSW v Thadsanamorthy [2019] NSWCATOD 96 Hearing dates: 3 June 2019 Date of orders: 28 June 2019 Decision date: 28 June 2019 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: N Isenberg, Senior Member R Dawson, Senior Member E Hayes, General Member Decision: The solicitor is guilty of professional misconduct in relation to grounds 1 - 3 of the Application and unsatisfactory professional conduct in relation to grounds 4 - 9. Orders: a. the Solicitor is reprimanded; b. the Solicitor is to pay a fine in the sum of $5,000; c. the Solicitor is to undergo education as follows: i. the Solicitor must, at her own expense, complete within 12 months of these Orders an appropriate course in practice management which includes trust accounting (Course) as approved by the Council of the Law Society of NSW, and therein achieve a pass mark of not less than 50% (Pass Mark); ii. within seven (7) days of receipt of notification of the result of her participation in the Course, the Solicitor must provide to the Council of the Law Society of NSW, the original of such notification; iii. should the Solicitor fail to achieve the Pass Mark, she must complete any further course in practice management including trust accounting as approved by the Council of the Law Society of NSW until such time as she achieves the Pass Mark in any further nominated course; and iv. should the Solicitor fail to achieve the Pass Mark within the time period prescribed in (a) above, any practising certificate then held by her shall be suspended (or if not holding a current practising certificate, no such certificate is to be issued to her) until such time as she achieves the Pass Mark; d. the Solicitor is to pay the costs of the Applicant as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: Solicitor – professional misconduct – trust account – mixing trust monies – misappropriation – reasonableness of belief of entitlement – GST – file register Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) New South Wales Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 2013 Cases Cited: Allinson v General Council of Medical Education and Registration [1894] 1 QB 750 Berger v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 119 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Bouzanis [2017] NSWCA 330 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Shehadie [2016] NSWCATOD 46 Council of the Law Society v Terepo [2018] NSWCATOD 106 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Webb [2013] NSWCA 423 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Winter [2019] NSWCATOD 2 Law Society of New South Wales v Walsh [1997] NSWCA 185 Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Breeze [2015] NSWCATOD 152 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Chapman (unreported) 14 December 1992 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Dimetrious [2015] NSWCA 258 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of the Law Society of NSW (Applicant) Viji Thadsanamorthy (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: P Maddigan (Applicant)