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A former lawyer has made a sensational claim that a former president of the ACT Law Society should “be in prison” for allegedly lying to the court about his fitness to hold a practising certificate.
According to Chief Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart, his longstanding dispute with former ACT Law Society president Robert Reis began when the latter learnt of Ezekiel-Hart’s professional connection to a disciplined lawyer during a practice management course in 2008.
This tension allegedly culminated in a verbal argument in the elevator in which Reis supposedly told Ezekiel-Hart he was going to tell the Law Society not to award him an unrestricted practising certificate.
The submission was made by Ezekiel-Hart in oral submissions before the Federal Court on Thursday (20 March) and in written submissions he shared with Lawyers Weekly the night prior to the hearing.
In it, he alleged the course was “not pass or fail” at the time, but Reis intentionally marked his questionnaire so he would fail.
For years afterwards, Reis “has been using tricks to hold onto my certificate”, Ezekiel-Hart alleged before Justice Jane Needham.
At the crux of Ezekiel-Hart’s submissions was that Reis lied to a court about his fitness to practice and that it was this lie that prevented him from being granted a practising certificate. Without this, he claimed he has been unable to “eat and feed my children”.
In one of his more sensational allegations, Ezekiel-Hart claimed Reis should “be in prison” as a result of this lie.
“Reis instructions misled Judge Neville, who could have sent him to prison under section 26(2)(d) breach but for his lie that he was on extended leave and the Law Society was not aware that they were serve[d] with human rights court document before they made complaint against me,” Ezekiel-Hart’s written submissions set out.
Ezekiel-Hart said the court would need to decide whether it would follow in the footsteps of lawyers who allegedly “glorify the smelling conduct of Robert Reis by failing to note for disapproval that it was the same man that lied in an affidavit before Judge Neville”.
He added Reis allegedly “was able to cover his tracts [sic] for over 16 years before coming up with confession and admissions on 8th and 9th July 2024, and was finally forced to resign about 12 February 2025”.
The Law Society has applied to have Ezekiel-Hart declared a vexatious litigant because the public “should be protected” from his use of the court’s resources, which may be taking it away from other litigants.
Nicholas Olson, counsel appearing for the Law Society, added that the order would be protective in nature because it would also protect the person subject to the order “in respect of there being costs orders”.
For almost two decades, Ezekiel-Hart made several claims against the Law Society and Reis, including allegations of fraud, dishonesty and discrimination. One of his claims was his application for a practising certificate was rejected because of his race, but the Law Society has granted certificates to white lawyers with misconduct findings.
“The originating application and statement of claim … remain focused on the historical matters relating to his practising certificate, and they also reveal that Chief Ezekiel-Hart continues to make serious allegations that are tantamount to fraud or dishonesty,” Olson said.
“I submit it is a continuation of previous conduct and an indicator of what future conduct may be if vexatious orders are not made.”
Olson added that Ezekiel-Hart’s written submissions were “not always possible to understand”, and this itself could be characterised as vexatious because it “requires more resources from the court”.
In respect of the vexatious application, Ezekiel-Hart said it could not be an abuse of process for him to file proceedings each time his practising certificate is rejected, particularly because he wishes to work so he does not have “to be on Centrelink payments”.
Ezekiel-Hart is seeking damages for racial discrimination and other breaches of human rights, as well as an apology. This is despite the racial discrimination case having already been decided on in a lower court.
Referring to his history of litigation – demonstrated in a table provided by the Law Society – Justice Needham has asked Ezekiel-Hart to consider overnight whether his proceedings have been repetitious and “come back with your response” on Friday.
The matter is ongoing.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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