This past week, we saw a handful of significant disciplinary matters, while one of the nation’s biggest firms named a new head. Here is your weekly round-up of the biggest stories for Australia’s legal profession.
For the week from 22–26 September, these were the 10 most-read stories on Lawyers Weekly (in case you missed them):
1. Strike-off for lawyer who misappropriated $6m meant for charities, hospital
A Sydney lawyer who used part of the $6 million he misappropriated from two clients’ estates to purchase a multimillion-dollar Bondi Junction home and lease a luxury car has been struck off the roll.
2. Lawyer avoids personal costs order for ‘serious neglect’
A lawyer’s failure to file a notice of ceasing to act was found to amount to “serious neglect, incompetence or misconduct”, but it was not enough to warrant a personal costs order for wasted costs.
3. Pushing back on the ‘unspoken rule’ about success in law
For two Western Australia-based professionals, a vocational epiphany comes to those who come to realise that being happy and fulfilled in one’s work as a lawyer isn’t an indulgence.
4. Client sues NSW lawyer over $10k refund
Frustrated with the way his criminal matter was handled, an NSW man attempted to win back the $10,000 he paid to a solicitor who allegedly ignored instructions and deliberately misled him.
5. Colin Biggers & Paisley appoints new managing partner
National law firm Colin Biggers & Paisley has named a new managing partner, who will assume the role from October.
6. WA lawyers under fire for ‘unnecessary’ extension application
A Western Australian judge was critical of several lawyers for bringing an application that “should never have been necessary”.
7. Clayton Utz the latest BigLaw firm to onboard Harvey
BigLaw firm Clayton Utz has partnered with AI tool Harvey for firm-wide use.
8. Bikie-linked lawyer gets 3 years in jail for financial deception
A lawyer and pre-insolvency adviser with links to Melbourne’s criminal underworld has been sentenced to three years in prison after “deliberately exploiting the financial and legal system”.
9. Prosecutor fights Department of Justice over employment decision
A senior legal officer with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has successfully appealed a decision not to convert his employment from a temporary contract to permanent.
10. Burnout, breakthrough, and the reimagined lawyer: One lawyer’s journey out of burnout
After 15 years of continuous practice, Mel Storey came to a realisation many lawyers reach only after it’s too late: the career she loved had been quietly wearing her down.
