Author adminPosted on Categories Legal profession 5 Comments on Chief Justice prohibits Graeme Page KC from practicing as a barrister
Former barrister Graeme Page’s career may have ended today after the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland ordered an injunction restraining him from engaging in legal practice.
The Legal Services Commission had brought an application in the Supreme Court just last Friday. This occurred after it became aware last week that, despite not holding a practising certificate, Page appeared in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia on a number of occasions between September 2022 and October 2022 when he was not entitled to do so.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law, Professional discipline Leave a comment on Solicitor struck off for the second time Michael James Quinn has the dubious honour of being the first solicitor in Queensland legal history to be struck off twice.
Normally when a lawyer is removed from the roll (‘struck off’) that effectively ends their legal career, as they are permanently ineligible to obtain a practising certificate which would enable them to practice law again. In this case, the unusual history of the matter led to the practitioner being struck off twice. Continue reading “Solicitor struck off for the second time”
Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law, Professional discipline 2 Comments on Solicitor struck off on appeal for corrupt payment The Queensland Court of Appeal has recently determined that a solicitor who made a corrupt payment in 2002 is permanently unfit to practice and should be struck off.
Shand had been admitted as a solicitor in 1975 and practised full time from 1975 until 1997, when he became the chief executive officer of a company called Jellinbah Resources Pty Ltd. Between 1977 and 1997 he was a partner in three major law firms and acted for a wide range of clients. His practice focused initially on banking and finance, and later work for large corporate and government bodies in large scale commercial transactions including property, rural matters, hotels and mining.
In 2002, as Director of Jellinbah and on the instructions of a businessman named Jim Gorman, Shand caused an amount of $60,000 to be paid to Mr Gordon Nuttall, the then Minister for Mines in the Queensland Government.
On 1 April 2011, Shand was convicted by a jury of making a corrupt payment to a Minister of the Crown contrary to section 442BA of the Criminal Code (Qld). Shand had previously declined an offer to assist prosecutors against Nuttall in return for being spared prosecution. Shand was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment to be suspended after serving 4 months.
In an affidavit, Shand said that he had learnt an extremely painful and publicly humiliating lesson, which had taken a heavy toll on him and his family. He said that he was very remorseful and he would never engage in similar conduct again. He also said he had no intention of ever engaging in legal practice again.
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