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In shocking text messages, a criminal lawyer told his client’s parents he would have prisoners “bash” him if they did not pay his $3,500 legal bill.
In a disturbing text message sent to his client’s mother, criminal lawyer Rhett Peter Williamson said he would give her 28 days to pay a $3,500 legal bill, or he would not stop “people in jail who want to bash him”.
The March 2021 message started with a homophobic statement about the woman’s other children and claimed she was “f---ing winning at life” because her only “straight child … is a f----d up meth addict in jail”.
“You know the funny part … I do not even have to pay these c---s to bash [the client]. They said they are just going to do it as a favour,” he added.
In a text to the client’s father, Williamson told him to “get the bill paid” or he would “read about it” in one of the state’s major newspapers.
“I have enough people in jail that owe me favours, so I will leave the ball in your court,” Williamson said in a follow-up message.
The following day, Williamson sent an apology to the client’s mother, claiming he had been “high on Xanax and alcohol” at the time.
In a statutory declaration provided to the Legal Practice Board’s professional affairs committee, Williamson claimed the texts had been sent by another client “without his knowledge or consent”.
The declaration attached a handwritten statement from this client.
According to material filed with the State Administrative Tribunal, Williamson agreed to act pro bono for the client on a family violence restraining order (FVRO) in exchange for taking the blame for the texts.
Williamson then visited the client’s partner in prison and had her sign an authority to act in an attempt to convince her to drop the FVRO.
The tribunal heard the client had claimed Williamson was his “best mate” and the two were “always” together.
On learning about his visits to the prison, the partner’s lawyer complained Williamson “was being instructed and paid by [his client] to approach [her client], pretending to want to help her, with the purpose of persuading her to revoke the FVRO against [his client]”.
The lawyer added that Williamson and his client’s ultimate goal was to sway the outcome of a protection application concerning two children.
Williamson was found to have engaged in professional misconduct, and a report was made to the Supreme Court of Western Australia with a recommendation that his name be struck from the roll.
Citation: Legal Practice Board and Williamson [2024] VR 104.
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