The Queensland solicitor has been found guilty of professional misconduct on two charges and unsatisfactory professional conduct under another charge in the state’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) after he breached suppression orders by cohabiting with his wife despite being prohibited to be within 100 metres of her. 

The solicitor, whose name has been redacted from the judgement, was named in a domestic violence temporary order in February 2017 and the prohibition order was implemented. In May 2018, a month after moving back in with his wife, the solicitor was found guilty of common assault following another domestic violence incident. 

Based on sentencing in the Magistrate Court, his wife was crouching on the ground as he stood over her and, at the very least, made a “kneeing gesture towards her”. He then grabbed her by the hair with both hands and dragged her for one and a half metres. The court heard he let go when a witness yelled out at him. 

In August 2019, after being charged with the serious offence of common assault – domestic violence and failing to alert the Queensland Law Society, his practising certificate was cancelled. Since August 2020, the solicitor has not engaged with the discipline application, having last indicated that he was overseas. 

He did not respond to the notice for the penalty hearing despite a notice being sent to his regular email address. As such, he did not appear. The fact that he has not engaged at all “is itself indicative of a lack of remorse and indeed, a lack of insight into the characteristics which attach to membership of an honourable profession”. 

QCAT found that it was, however, consistent with his previously evinced attitude to the incident that gave rise to the discipline application given that he has previously denied the assault, blamed his wife and family for his suppression order breaches and sought to explain away breach of bail in the face of family issues. 

“Notably, at no time has the respondent, either in the course of the criminal proceedings or in the course of this discipline application, expressed any insight into the seriousness of his conduct, either at a personal level or, relevantly for today’s purposes, in respect of the implications that this sort of conduct has as far as his professionalism is concerned,” QCAT wrote in judgement. 

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The judgement can be found on AustLII: Legal Services Commissioner v SD [2021] QCAT 204.