PAUL ERNEST MASTEN

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

The Full Bench of the Supreme Court of WA considered a report from the State Administrative Tribunal finding that solicitor Paul Masten engaged in professional misconduct by dishonestly withdrawing $11,115 of trust money from a deceased estate's trust account to pay stamp duty owed by his own company, then falsely blaming the bookkeeper and failing to report the irregularity. The Tribunal expressly found dishonest conduct, stealing, fraudulent falsification of records and intentional breach of trust, with multiple statutory contraventions. Masten was also convicted of stealing in the District Court. The court held the conduct was not a temporary lapse and that he lacked insight, making striking off the only appropriate order. His name was removed from the Roll; no order as to costs of the application was made given his financial situation (the Tribunal had earlier ordered $38,502.25 costs and suspended his certificate).

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• No taking unfair advantage
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Self-report to the regulator
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct continued over a period of time (10 April to 12 May 2009)
• Numerous opportunities to rectify default were not taken
• Left Perth for a birthday party and to inspect broodmares after discovery
• Only repaid trust money after Committee commenced investigation
• Falsely blamed bookkeeper for the erroneous debit
• Failure to report irregularities to the Board
• Absence of insight; continued to maintain no dishonest intent
• Convicted of stealing in the District Court (9 months imprisonment suspended 12 months)

Mitigating factors:

• Single offence said to be out of character
• Numerous examples of pro bono legal services and community contributions
• Positive character references
• Personal circumstances of stress, marriage breakdown, mental health problems and financial difficulties