An NSW law graduate convicted of online sexual offences against 10 children has been given approval to work with solicitors and barristers.
Content warning: Child sexual offences.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved an application by a law graduate – whose name has been anonymised for legal reasons – to work as a lay associate, despite being convicted of serious sexual offences involving 10 children between the ages of 13 and 15.
He was convicted for six counts of using a carriage service for sexual activity with persons under 16, and four counts of using a carriage service to groom persons under 16, both between April 2013 and October 2014.
While the criminal trial judge acknowledged the “immediate reaction” would be to jail the graduate for a “substantial period”, he said the graduate was in his early 20s at the time, had entered an early plea of guilty, and “repeatedly, powerfully, intelligently” expressed remorse.
Instead, the graduate was ordered to serve his sentence in the community.
Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 (NSW), a law practice would be in contravention if it has employed a lay associate whom the principal or another legal profession associate knows to be a disqualified person, or a person who has been convicted of a serious offence.
Back in January, the graduate applied for and was approved to be a lay associate so he could complete his mandatory practical legal training.
In a decision this month, the tribunal agreed to amend the approval to allow the graduate to also work with barristers. In the months between each judgment, the law graduate has completed practical legal training requirements and plans to lodge an application for admission.
In the original application, the graduate acknowledged his offending was rightly regarded as “abhorrent and disgraceful by the community”.
The tribunal also began its consideration by noting the offences were extremely serious “and were of a nature that would provoke a high level of disgust in the minds of those with knowledge of what the applicant did”.
However, the tribunal accepted a decade had passed since the last of his offences, he had completed legal studies successfully and to a “very high standard”, and has made significant and ongoing rehabilitation.
The graduate has been prohibited from working on matters concerning children and cannot have contact with children in the course of his work.
He also must inform the principal of any law practice or any legal practitioner directly responsible for his supervision of the conditions and his status as a “registrable person” under the Child Protection Act.
If any “future matter or event” occurs which may adversely affect his suitability to be a lay associate, including fresh criminal charges, the graduate is to notify the NSW Law Society and the NSW Bar Association within seven days.
The case: The Application of FXI under S 121 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) [2024] NSWCATOD 6 (18 January 2024).
Help is available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue at 1300 22 4636. Each law society and bar association also has resources available on their respective websites.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
