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A former lawyer has had his further amended summons application rejected in his application for a compliance certificate.
After trying to return to the profession twice, a lawyer who was struck off 11 years ago has had his further amended summons application quashed by the Supreme Court of NSW, after it re-emphasised that he was not a person of good fame and character, and was thus not suitable to be issued a compliance certificate, failing his five grounds of appeal against the Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB).
Cesar Montenegro applied for a further amended summons on 22 June 2026 where he presented five grounds to the court, claiming record-keeping errors relating to minute meetings involving then-senior vice president of the Law Society of NSW, Jennifer Ball.
The court dismissed his application on these grounds, finding that although an error in law was identified, his evidence of legal experience was irrelevant to the summons application.
“The requirement that the LPAB keep “full and accurate minutes” must be understood as a requirement that the minutes record every decision made by the LPAB and that they do so accurately. It is not a requirement that the LPAB keep a detailed record of what occurred at each meeting,” the Supreme Court said in its 17 September 2026 decision.
In medical reports provided to the court, Montenegro sent the following to the court when called to attend the 11 August 2026 hearing for his summons application.
“He has chronic medical conditions of idiopathic allergic reactions and axonal neuropathy. His conditions involve exacerbations of an unpredictable nature, with unknown triggers and are difficult to treat.
These exacerbations include migraine, photophobia, severe swelling of the face, severe leg pains,” the medical report said.
“There are medications that help reduce the symptoms, but they do not completely control or resolve these symptoms,” the report continued.
“It is unlikely that his condition will improve. Therefore, Cesar will likely not be able to travel interstate now or in the future,” it read.
The court rejected this unsworn evidence that Montenegro was unable to travel interstate to attend the hearing on the basis of his failure to file a proper application for adjournment and not providing sworn evidence from his medical practitioner for the described indisposition.
In the absence of Montenegro, at the hearing, the court determined that the alleged record-keeping failures regarding Ball were irrelevant.
“For the reasons already explained, a fair-minded observer knowing the facts would not reach that conclusion because there was no reason to think that Ms Ball’s presence in the room would affect the decision of other members of the LPAB,” the Supreme Court determined.
The court concluded that Montenegro’s grounds did not weigh in favour of his further amended summons application’s success, dismissing his application, and ordering him to pay costs.
3 failed attempts
Montenegro was admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court in late 2008, and held practising certificates issued by the Law Society until mid-2014.
Not too long after, Montenegro applied to the New South Wales Bar Association to obtain a barrister’s practising certificate, which was rejected on the basis that it was not satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person, for not adequately disclosing his criminal offences, using a new name to apply for a driver’s licence when his was cancelled, and posing as a barrister on social media.
He was taken off the roll by a decision of the NSW Supreme Court’s prothonotary in late 2015 for the criminal offences between 1999 and 2013 for failing to disclose these to the LPAB, the NSW Law Society, and the Bar Association.
The applicant applied to the LPAB for a compliance certificate on 5 December 2017, which was refused on 15 June 2020. Following this, he launched appeal proceedings, which were dropped in August 2022 when he was ordered to pay costs.
The applicant tried again on 26 August 2022, which was refused on 18 June 2024 following the LAPB’s consideration of two statutory declarations that he provided in late 2023, on the basis of a conflict of interest.
Through correspondence sent by the applicant between 25 June and 8 July 2024, he requested that the board reconsider this refusal decision, which was dismissed on 8 October 2024.
“The LPAB issued reasons, in which it conceded “a number of factual errors or inaccuracies” in the reasons for the June 2024 Decision, but said that the applicant had not identified any error in those reasons or raised any other matter that would change its determination.”
As of September 2026, Montenegro remains struck off.
The case citation: Montenegro v Legal Profession Admission Board (No 4) [2026] NSWCA 199 (17 September 2026).
