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Solicitor who falsely claimed witness to signature reprimanded
A NSW solicitor who falsely claimed to witness a signature on an enduring power of attorney and failed to disclose the effect of the document to the principal before it was signed has been publicly reprimanded and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine.
Naomi Neilson
A retired solicitor has been publicly reprimanded, ordered to pay the fine and ordered to pay the Legal Services Commissioner’s costs consequent on the finding of professional misconduct after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) found she falsely represented being a witness to a signature.
“Legal practitioners are privileged to practice in an honourable profession and must act honourably at all times. Falsely and inaccurately representing that they witnessed a signature on a document or that a person has taken a solemn oath before them is dishonourable conduct unbefitting a legal practitioner,” the NCAT judgement read.
The Legal Services Commissioner submitted that the conduct was “extremely serious” and constituted professional misconduct. Agreeing, the tribunal said there was no doubt that this conduct amounted to a “serious and substantial failure” to meet the reasonable standards of competence and diligence.
The tribunal did accept that this was an isolated incident, and she was experiencing personal and medical difficulties at the time. However, “subjective mitigating circumstances do not influence the objective characterisation of the respondent’s conduct as professional misconduct”, the tribunal added.
The solicitor retired from practice in 2018 and has signalled that she has no desire to return to the profession. However, evidence indicated that she wished to preserve the opportunity to practise with the concession of it being under supervision.
As such, the tribunal agreed to a reprimand only and ordered that if she applies for a practising certificate from the Law Society or Bar Association, that she alerts them to these proceedings and the tribunal’s finding.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
