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Brisbane solicitor ordered to pay $27k to compensate clients
A Queensland solicitor, who was removed from the roll in 2019, has been ordered to pay former clients $27,350 worth of compensation for his inappropriate conduct.
Naomi Neilson
David Allan McHenry, a sole practitioner of Dave McHenry & Associates, was struck from the roll in 2019 following 30 charges, seven of which allege forgery of documents. He has been ordered to compensate four clients for conduct the Civil and Administrative Tribunal noted was professional misconduct and unsatisfactory professional conduct.
Of the seven clients who brought compensation claims against Mr McHenry, four of them were successful. The first being Gilbert Thornley, who secured Mr McHenry’s services to advise on the appropriate resolution of the family law proceeding.
The tribunal found Mr McHenry failed to properly advise Mr Thornley and, if he had done so, Mr Thornley would not have signed an agreement that resulted in financial loss. This misconduct was determined to solely be the reason behind Mr Thornley’s losses.
In the matter of Kelly Trevena, Mr McHenry’s services were secured to advise on property settlement following Ms Trevena’s divorce. Although he initially took action, he then failed to institute proceedings and made “dishonest representations”. The tribunal declared his conduct and dishonesty “were found to amount to professional misconduct”.
Similarly, in the case of Paul Lastavec, Mr McHenry commenced some work, but did little thereafter and made false representations in the remaining matter.
Finally, he was ordered to pay $2,100 to Jodie Harris for falsely representing the payment in respect of her late-father’s estate that was imminent and requesting that she fly to Brisbane. On several occasions, he made false directions, including that a judge in the District Court of Queensland would determine the matter and that the judge had withdrawn the matter.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
