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‘F--k off’: Lawyer facing strike-off stuns tribunal
Pictures of middle fingers, all-capped profanity, and bizarre threats to take things to the “nth degree” were all included in an angry solicitor’s emails with the NSW Law Society during his disciplinary proceedings.
Naomi Neilson
Seemingly not deterred by the hot water he was already in for using rude and aggressive comments in correspondence with an opposing client, NSW lawyer George Sideris ramped up the discourteous language in the lead-up to a tribunal’s penalty decision.
In one email, he wrote: “F--K off the lot of you, you bunch of idiots” and then, “let me be a little nicer – F--K OFF”. Others simply stated “better yet” or “so simply put” above an attachment of a middle finger picture.
Sideris did not appear at the penalty hearing, informing the tribunal’s registry and the Law Society that he has a “lot of things to do” before he leaves the country for a funeral until November 2024 and “cannot meet with you bunch of inconsiderate people”.
“The discourtesy shown to the Law Society, its lawyers and the tribunal in numerous items of correspondence in evidence, including the use of profanities, is extreme,” the tribunal said.
“The continued pattern of behaviour is, in our assessment, incompatible with the respondent’s name remaining on the roll.”
A recommendation was made that Sideris’ name be struck off.
Back in January, NCAT found Sideris guilty of professional misconduct for sending “discourteous and plainly inappropriate” correspondence to other parties in his mother-in-law’s matter, and for making “baseless” allegations against a Mills Oakley solicitor.
In one email sent directly to a client, Sideris wrote: “In short I could say f--k off but I am too much of a gentleman.”
The Law Society told the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) the latest insults “are intended to stop” proceedings and it “goes beyond discourtesy and constitutes an attempt to intimidate”.
The society added the conduct “points to an entrenched pattern of behaviour in the sending of correspondence in the same or similar vein as the correspondence of the [disciplinary complaint], with no explanation as to why that type of conduct would continue”.
NCAT found Sideris’ emails to the tribunal, particularly on its publication of the January findings, “progressively worsens”, including referring to NCAT “as a bunch of idiots hiding behind a Govt [sic] banner” and “I have read it all – what a load of s--t”.
Sideris then threatened to take further action against the Law Society and the tribunal, including a demand they “SHUT this bloody mess down and if not I will pursue it to the nth [sic] degree and sue the Law Society” and “bugger off unless you want a major law suit”.
His mother-in-law also threatened to publish a letter that would go “out to the open press” and hire a lawyer to take action against the Law Society if the matter is “not fixed up for the benefit” of Sideris.
The tribunal found there was “no viable alternative” to the removal of Sideris’ name from the roll.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
