A law graduate convicted of a string of violent offences – after being capsicum-sprayed by police during a substance-induced psychosis – has been granted permission to continue pursuing a legal career.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has allowed a law graduate with a criminal record to work in a law firm, ruling that his past convictions shouldn’t stand in the way of completing the practical training he needs to enter the profession.
NCAT president Justice Armstrong and deputy president Stuart Westgarth approved the graduate’s employment as a “lay associate”, enabling him to finish his practical legal training, the final step before admission.
The decision comes despite the graduate’s history of violent and aggressive offences committed while under the influence of drugs.
An incident in 2021 in Newcastle involved the law student, then studying at the University of Newcastle, taking a large dose of LSD – a substance he had used previously – which subsequently triggered a bout of psychosis.
Over the course of several hours during the psychotic episode, which he later described as leaving him with “limited memory”, he left his home and travelled to a neighbouring suburb, where he carried out “a series of violent, aggressive, and irrational acts”.
These incidents included entering a house and damaging property, striking a front door so forcefully that it bent out of shape, and tackling an occupant to the ground, landing punches that left them injured.
Following these events, he reportedly “punched and injured a police officer” attempting to arrest him, prompting another officer to use capsicum spray before he was “wrestled to the ground”.
After pleading guilty to eight serious offences, the law student was sentenced in the local court in June 2021 to intensive correction orders and community correction orders, which included 250 hours of community service, a fine, and compensation payments.
While completing his law degree, the junior lawyer enrolled in the University of Newcastle’s PLT program in 2024, which requires graduates to undertake 180 hours of supervised work in a law firm.
However, because section 121 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law prevents anyone with a serious conviction from working in legal practice without special approval, he had to seek permission to continue his training.
This led him to apply to NCAT in January 2025 for approval to work in a law firm as a lay associate so he could complete his mandatory practical legal training.
NCAT granted the Law Society of NSW leave to appear in the matter and take part in the proceedings; however, the body did not “express a view” on whether the tribunal should approve or oppose the application.
Instead, it referred the tribunal to past legal decisions it had considered under this section of the act and recommended conditions if approval were granted.
The tribunal determined that they were “comfortably satisfied” that the law graduate’s offences were the product of an isolated event and were “extremely unlikely to be repeated”.
Justice Armstrong and deputy president Westgarth also expressed that the applicant has learnt a “harsh and memorable lesson” from this event, noting how he has committed to “not consume illicit drugs and not to place himself at risk of such behaviour again”.
While NCAT approved the young lawyer’s employment as a “lay associate”, it imposed strict conditions to ensure close oversight. These include:
He may work in a law firm for only the next two years, under the direct supervision of a senior lawyer.
He must provide any supervising lawyer and the firm principal with a copy of the tribunal’s reasons for decision.
Proof of compliance must be supplied to the Law Society or NSW Bar Association within seven days of commencing work.
He is required to notify regulators within seven days if he faces any future criminal charges or any matters affecting his suitability.
