A lawyer who allegedly owes $2.6 million in tax, plus the $190,000 owed by his law firm, has failed to stay a decision of the Legal Services Board to refuse to renew his practising certificate.
Dimitrios Jimmy Diakou has failed to convince the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to stay a decision of the Victorian Legal Services Board (VLSB) to refuse to renew his practising certificate, pending the final determination of review proceedings.
The legal practitioner claimed he would suffer “irreparable financial loss to his business”, which would affect his personal and financial circumstances, if the stay was not granted. He said there was also a risk that two clients that make up 97 per cent of his file load would leave.
However, acting senior member Neill Campbell said Diakou’s pattern of non-compliance with the law and his legal obligations as a practitioner have created “a significant risk to the public”.
“The tribunal considers that the protection of the public in this matter is the overriding factor. This is the case despite the significant damage that a failure to grant a stay may cause to Diakou, his parents and his clients,” Campbell said in his recent decision.
The decision concerned applications for the 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 practising years, which were not granted during those years. Instead, Diakou held a deemed certificate while they were assessed.
The board’s decision not to renew was made in July 2025.
It found Diakou was not a fit and proper person because of his failure to hold public liability insurance (PII) and a failure to comply with continuing professional development (CPD) requirements, which it alleged both showed a pattern of “failing to comply with the law”.
In the context of PII, the board also took issue with the alleged reference in Diakou’s emails to the statement: “Liability limited by a scheme approved under the Professional Standards Legislation”.
Diakou said he was unaware he was not covered by insurance and that the PII failure was due to an “unintentional oversight”.
As for CPD, Diakou said he was the sole practitioner with no staff beyond a part-time bookkeeper and a heavy workload. The failure was an “innocent and unintentional oversight” in not responding to the Law Institute of Victoria to confirm he had complied.
At the time of the stay application, Campbell said Diakou had provided only a “limited explanation” for the admitted conduct.
Campbell also noted it was clear from his applications for renewal of his practising certificate that Diakou was aware before 2 June 2025 of his failure to undertake the required CPD and that he did not have PII in place for the relevant practising years.
The board also tried to rely on evidence in another proceeding that Diakou allegedly personally owes the Australian Taxation Office about $2.6 million in tax, and his law practice owes $190,000.
There was a copy of a County Court order in which the ATO had entered judgment in the amount of $1,619,760.69, plus interest.
This was in addition to an argument that Diakou was allegedly likely to be placed in bankruptcy, and that disciplinary charges in another Victorian tribunal proceeding were likely to be proven.
Campbell said there was insufficient detail about the debt evidence for it to be considered in the stay application.
The bankruptcy evidence was also rejected as “speculation”, and confirmed that the disciplinary matter was also unable to be considered.
The case: Diakou v Victorian Legal Services Board (Legal Practice) [2025] VCAT 955.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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