TERENCE JAMES MALONE

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

The Full Court of Western Australia considered a report from the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal recommending the practitioner be struck off. The practitioner, formerly practising in Geraldton, disappeared around March 1998, leaving Australia. Investigation revealed he had over about two years received client money into his general account and failed to properly account for trust money, amounting in some cases to stealing. He was suspended in March 1998 and did not appear before the Tribunal. The Tribunal made findings of illegal and unprofessional conduct on eight of nine references. The Court found the misappropriation went to the heart of the practice and betrayed clients, and ordered the practitioner struck from the Roll to protect the public and maintain professional standards.: I output an internal duplicate key issue—here corrected to valid single JSON.}<br>|||CORRECTION|||<br>{

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct occurred over an extended period (approximately 2-3 years)
• Betrayal of clients who depended upon him
• Abandoned practice without notice to clients or the Legal Practice Board
• Left Australia, resided in various countries and may have changed his name
• Failed to appear or engage with proceedings; stated he would not return