Matthew Kenneth Manz

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

Solicitor Matthew Kenneth Manz was found to have engaged in professional misconduct by dishonestly providing a false ('tax/accounting') reason to a body corporate's solicitor for a proposed assignment of management rights, when he knew the true reason was the revocation of his clients' letting licences following dishonesty convictions, and by causing an employed solicitor to confirm that false reason. The Tribunal made an express finding of dishonesty (after amending the application to allege dishonesty), characterising the conduct as professional misconduct. He was publicly reprimanded, fined $30,000, and ordered to pay costs on the standard basis. In a later decision, the Tribunal refused the body corporate's application for a compensation order, finding the claimed loss was not suffered because of the misconduct found.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was deliberate and persisted over a period of time
• Respondent initiated the dishonest course of conduct
• Involved another (employed) solicitor in the deception
• No attempt to correct the misrepresentation or to identify his ethical obligations
• There was a significant likelihood the body corporate would have had the right to terminate the agreements had the true reason been disclosed

Mitigating factors:

• Full cooperation with the investigation and proceeding
• No personal benefit beyond professional fees
• No prior disciplinary findings or conduct complaints
• Expression of remorse and acceptance of responsibility
• Steps taken to improve awareness of ethical obligations
• Conduct motivated by desire to protect clients' interests, not personal gain
• Passage of time since the conduct
• Character references provided