RONALD WILLIAM BOWER

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

The Full Bench of the Supreme Court of Western Australia ordered that Ronald William Bower's name be removed from the roll of legal practitioners. Bower, sole principal of Corser & Corser and admitted in 1983, was found by the State Administrative Tribunal (upheld on appeal) to have engaged in professional misconduct including serious findings of dishonesty: knowingly swearing/filing a false affidavit to mislead the District Court, causing three false affidavits to be sworn by a vulnerable employee (Mr S), and sending/permitting false and misleading emails to a client, all intending to mislead. He also delayed proceedings, failed to inform the client, and inappropriately charged for work necessitated by his own delay. The court found his dishonest conduct protracted, self-interested and destructive of trust, and that he lacked remorse and insight. Bower did not oppose the removal. No order as to costs was made (costs not pressed).

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• Avoid wasting the court's time
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Keep client informed and respond promptly
• Handle inadvertently received material
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Directing/instructing a vulnerable employee (Mr S), who was suffering from bipolar disorder symptoms, to swear misleading affidavits, taking advantage of a vulnerable employee
• Protracted, intentional conduct across two separate matters over several months
• Conduct motivated by self-interest to benefit himself and conceal his firm's defaults
• Not a junior practitioner - admitted in 1983 and sole principal, not acting under pressure
• Misleading the court on oath - extremely serious
• Lack of remorse and insight; denied wrongdoing until mitigation submissions

Mitigating factors:

• Major depressive illness in 2006 and stress/anxiety in 2012
• Pro bono and community work
• 30 character references provided to the Tribunal