The NSW Law Society has published its decision to refuse to grant a practising certificate to a solicitor convicted of serious offences for which he served an 18-month community corrections order.
Vladimir Shapkin was refused a practising certificate for the year ending June 2026, according to a decision published on the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner’s (OLSC) Register of Disciplinary Action.
Under the substance of the matter, the council of the Law Society of NSW referred to Shapkin’s conviction of serious offences, which resulted in an 18-month community corrections order and a $10,000 fine.
The council also referred to Shapkin’s failure to disclose “further criminal charges” laid in October 2023 in his application.
The decision was published on the OLSC register three months after Shapkin unsuccessfully sought an administrative review and a stay in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
At the time, NCAT president Justice Lea Armstrong said Shapkin had not identified the source of the tribunal’s jurisdiction to conduct the requested administrative review or decide on the stay.
There were also no statutory provisions identified in the NCAT Act, the Uniform Law, the Application Act, or any other act that may have conferred jurisdiction on the tribunal, Justice Armstrong said.
Last September, Justices Richard McHugh, John Basten and John Griffiths of the NSW Supreme Court dismissed judicial review of a decision related to the 2022 convictions.
This followed an unsuccessful appeal to the District Court.
A decision to refuse Shapkin’s practising certificate back in February stated he was “not a fit and proper person” to hold one.
The NCAT decision: Shapkin v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2025] NSWCATOD 66.
The Supreme Court decision: Shapkin v Director of Public Prosecutions (No 2) [2024] NSWCA 263.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
