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NSW lawyer fails to dodge GoFundMe disciplinary case
An NSW solicitor who has already landed in hot water for controversial social media posts has again failed to have an application for disciplinary proceedings tossed out before it could begin.
Naomi Neilson
The NSW Law Society alleged Nathan Buckley, who used to work for the firm G&B Lawyers, engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct by raising funds and promoting his services through four separate GoFundMe campaigns.
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It comes just months after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal was told Buckley was facing separate disciplinary action for posts on his Facebook account, including a lurid claim the Law Society “will be all over your arse like a wet dildo” if it is challenged.
In the most recent action before the tribunal, the Law Society alleged four campaigns – the Constitutional Challenge Campaign, SA Legal Challenge Campaign, Reopen Australia Challenge Campaign, and the Victoria Class Action Campaign – breached conduct rules.
The first campaign, the Constitutional Challenge Campaign, claimed to raise funds for Buckley to initiate proceedings against the NSW government over its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination orders.
Although it promised the money would be used for the benefit of “all Australians”, the Law Society alleged in its disciplinary application that the money was instead used to fund separate action.
The Law Society also alleged the fundraising page claimed the challenge to the vaccination laws would be successful “in circumstances where the nature of the proposed challenge was novel and there was a risk that the litigation might be unsuccessful”.
The tribunal was told Buckley posted an update on the fundraising page claiming he had grounds to need the $10 million in funds, allegedly “in circumstances where there was no such basis”.
Further, Buckley told donors that if proceedings did not make it to the High Court, then they should expect a refund. The Law Society claimed the funds were instead used for a separate action.
Appearing before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) late last month, Buckley made a general application that claimed the tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to hear the complaint.
But deputy president Stuart Westgarth rejected Buckley’s application for dismissal in a decision handed down this week.
Buckley claimed the tribunal did not have jurisdiction because the GoFundMe page was based outside of NSW.
Westgarth said the proceedings only concerned Buckley’s conduct as a solicitor and whether this conduct amounted to either unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct.
“As [Buckley] was, at the time of the alleged conduct, a lawyer in NSW, holding a practising certificate, he was subject to obligations under the Uniform Law and the duties set out in the Conduct Rules.
“I agree with the applicant’s submissions that the fact that the alleged conduct may have involved using a website hosted overseas does not take the respondent’s conduct outside the scheme of the Uniform Law,” Westgarth determined.
