A Queensland solicitor could be struck off for a failure to deliver competent legal services, but the clients he left in the lurch were unable to secure compensation orders because of a technicality.
Last month, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal recommended that Matthew David McCormick be removed from the roll over his failure to deliver legal services “competently, diligently and as promptly as possible” to three clients on two separate matters.
One of the clients made persistent and unanswered requests for documentation related to his visa matter before finally being forced to correspond directly with the Department of Immigration.
Justice Frances Williams also found that due to McCormick’s lack of engagement with the tribunal, it could be inferred he was “indifferent to his legal obligations and his status as a member” of the profession.
The three clients made two applications for compensation, but these were dismissed in a decision handed down this week.
At the time they retained McCormick, he was the director of McCormicks Law. He has since worked at Ashlar Legal.
Given that McCormicks Law no longer exists, the Legal Services Commissioner said section 464 of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) (LP Act) would not permit the compensation orders.
That section provides for compensation in the event that conduct has been found to be unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct, or misconduct of a law practice employee.
Justice Williams was satisfied there was no basis to make the compensation order against McCormicks Law, and no basis to make the order against Ashlar Legal, as it was not the relevant law practice.
Turning to whether personal compensation order could be made against McCormick, the commissioner contended section 464 applied to law practices and does not apply to employee practices.
“Whilst the LSC acknowledges this creates significant complications and shortfalls in the case of incorporated legal practices, this is an issue to be addressed by Parliament,” the decision set out.
Justice Williams agreed the section did not provide a remedy to complainants seeking compensation “where the relevant law practice is an incorporated legal practice and the incorporated legal practice has ceased and/or is deregistered”.
“The unfortunate consequence is that in cases such as the current case, there is no power to be able to make a compensation order,” Justice Willliams said.
The compensation case: Legal Services Commissioner v McCormick (No 2) [2025] QCAT 376i.
The original disciplinary case: Legal Services Commissioner v McCormick [2025] QCAT 299.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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