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A West Australian practitioner’s threatening and discourteous letters were “very serious”, but it was his failure to honour undertakings and summonses that proved fatal to his career.
The Supreme Court of Western Australia has removed Michael Joseph Lourey’s name from the roll, almost a year after the West Australian State Administrative Tribunal (WASAT) found him guilty of “serious” breaches of his obligations as a legal practitioner.
In the May decision, WASAT found Lourey guilty of professional misconduct on 10 occasions, four of which involved his conduct in sending letters to another practitioner that were prejudicial to, or diminished confidence in, the administration of justice.
In one, Lourey suggested a complaint would be made if the lawyer did not respond in a satisfactory manner, which WASAT found was an “attempt to advance [his client’s] interests by unfair means”.
A further two counts of unsatisfactory professional conduct related to Lourey’s sending of discourteous letters to the Insurance Commission of Western Australia, or RiskCover, and a doctor.
While the language was deemed “very serious” by the Supreme Court’s Justices Bruno Fiannaca, Jennifer Hill and Michael Lundberg, it was Lourey’s breach of an undertaking and failure to comply with summonses that meant he was unfit to practise.
In making the removal decision, the bench said it should promote understanding among lawyers that the administration of justice depends upon their compliance with undertakings and processes in the investigations of allegations of misconduct.
“It must be understood by the profession in particular that conduct which threatens the integrity of the regulatory regime will result in an appropriate sanction in order to maintain the reputation and standards of the legal profession,” the Justices said.
If Lourey’s misconduct was limited to the discourteous letters, Justices Fiannaca, Hill and Lundberg said the court might have been inclined to deal with his breaches in a manner other than removal.
They referred to a previous sanction for similar behaviour, which ended in Lourey being ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.
“It is a very significant step to go from a financial penalty for prior similar conduct to removal of the practitioner’s name from the roll, notwithstanding the persistence of his conduct and the period over which the conduct occurred,” the bench said.
“However, the further breaches by the practitioner … demonstrated a contumelious attitude to the regulatory system, which is in place to ensure practitioners maintain high ethical and professional standards.”
Citation: Legal Services and Complaints Committee v Lourey [2025] WASC 569.
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