A Canberra lawyer who had an "intimate relationship" with a woman seeking legal advice over a child custody battle has lost a fight to clear his name.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The lawyer, whose identity is unknown, was providing legal advice to the woman during a custody case in May 2007.
The pair started an intimate relationship in circumstances that both dispute.
But their affections soured later that year.
The woman complained about the lawyer’s conduct to the Law Society of the ACT in October 2007, prompting an investigation into his actions.
The lawyer had also earlier acted for the woman’s sister as she sought to revoke a personal protection order in the Magistrates Court.
But the sister also complained about the man to the Law Society in November, prompting a second investigation.
Eventually, the Law Society took the lawyer to court for unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.
The Society’s first complaint against the lawyer was that he had not been honest with them about the intimate relationship, instead telling them the sexual relationship had not started until after he acted for the woman.
They had also alleged the lawyer failed to act honestly and in good faith when representing the woman’s sister, and improperly intervened with a potential witness.
He was eventually found guilty in the ACT Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and was barred from further practicing as a lawyer.
But the man fought the decision, appealing in the ACT Supreme Court on 13 different grounds.
Justice Richard Refshauge, who delivered the court's judgment this week, dismissed the lawyer’s challenge to the ACAT’s decision.
He confirmed that the matter would go back to ACAT, to give effect to its orders.
The lawyer was also ordered to pay the Law Society’s costs.