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A recommendation to strike off a Western Australian lawyer for making baseless, scandalous allegations has sent a strong message to the profession that “very serious consequences” will be taken against those who engage in similar misconduct.
The Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal (WASAT) recommended Michael Barker be removed from the roll after an earlier finding that his behaviour “actively undermined the integrity of the legal profession, the courts and the legal system”.
In June, Barker was found guilty of three counts of professional misconduct for repeatedly making baseless, scandalous claims of dishonest and criminal conduct against a solicitor who acted for his ex-wife, the Legal Practice Board, and the Family Court.
They were to the effect that the solicitor fabricated evidence, and the Family Court and the board either ignored this alleged misconduct or were complicit by failing to hold her to account.
Not only were the allegations likely to bring the profession into disrepute and diminish confidence in the administration of justice, but risked damaging the repute of Barker’s targets.
At the time of the misconduct finding, deputy president Judge Henry Jackson said a reasonable person in Barker’s position, being a former practising solicitor, “would know of the obligation to refrain from making such allegations without a proper basis”.
Judge Jackson, along with senior member John O’Sullivan and member Ross Povey, said the publication of the primary decision “appears not to have prompted any reflection from Barker”.
“Rather than showing insight into his misconduct or expressing remorse for it, he has ‘doubled down’ on his allegations and now includes us and the tribunal staff in some of them,” they said.
Barker said he had “not bothered” to read the primary decision because it would have been a “complete waste of time”.
He alleged the board’s officers engaged in criminal conduct by not upholding his complaint against the solicitor, and suggested the WASAT bench presided over a “kangaroo court trial”.
When phoned by an associate to determine whether he would be attending the penalty hearing, Barker said he was filing material with the Crime and Corruption Commission, referred to the making of “illegal laws and illegal orders”, and said the deputy president and others from SAT “will be going to jail”.
This lack of insight and remorse “suggests a need to emphasise to him the seriousness of his misconduct” to try to deter him from further misconduct, Judge Jackson and the members said.
“Another is the need to state clearly, to both other members of the profession and to the public more generally, that the conduct engaged in by Barker is not acceptable professional conduct and that very serious consequences will result from conduct of this nature.
“Given his response to our primary reasons, the message sent to the profession and the broader public is more critical than sent to Barker, who appears unlikely to reflect appropriately on any sanction imposed,” the WASAT bench said.
In addition to the recommended, Barker was ordered to pay the board’s costs in the sum of $27,000.
