Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
A Queensland firm director engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct by her failure to appropriately manage a conveyancing matter and supervise an employee who had at least a decade of experience.
Justice Kerri Mellifont, president of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), has imposed a reprimand and an order that a sole director complete an approved practice management course due to her failure to manage her client’s conveyancing matter.
Sometime between June 2016 and June 2017, an employed solicitor with an unrestricted practising certificate completed and signed transfer forms for two properties for the one client, but erroneously recorded the same transaction number and stamp duty payable for both.
Due to the incorrect records, the solicitor failed to disburse a sum of just under $5,500 to the Office of State Revenue (OSR) to pay stamp duty for one of the properties, which caused unpaid tax interest to accrue.
The solicitor accepted that she failed to maintain reasonable standards of competence and diligence by her inadequate employee supervision, inappropriate management of the client’s remaining trust funds, and failure to immediately rectify the issue with the OSR.
Further, she accepted the findings and sanctions, having acknowledged the misconduct was a result “of a combination of poor account keeping practices, [and] lack of supervision of the solicitor”. On the latter, QCAT noted the employed solicitor was not a junior at the time.
While serious misconduct, Justice Mellifont was satisfied it was neither serious nor deliberate, and did not result in personal financial gain.
The solicitor has since reimbursed the client for the interest he incurred and completed a trust accounting referral course and a legal ethics course.
Having used the “very significant period of time” since the misconduct to better herself, the solicitor said she now wishes to return to practice.
Citation: Legal Services Commissioner v McCallum [2026] QCAT 190.
