JOHN CONNOR BENARI

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

John Connor Benari, a sole practitioner, was subject to three disciplinary complaints arising from a client's workers compensation matter handled almost entirely by his senior law clerk, Mrs EP. The Tribunal found him guilty of neglect for inadequately supervising the law clerk and guilty of unprofessional conduct for grossly overcharging the client ($240/hour plus GST for the clerk's time versus an appropriate $160/hour), with no justification for the 'loading' he applied. He was found not guilty of constructively misrepresenting the clerk as a lawyer. No express finding of dishonesty was made. In the supplementary decision, he was reprimanded for the neglect, fined $2000 for the overcharging, and ordered to pay $5000 costs.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Fair, reasonable and lawful fees

Aggravating factors:

• Overcharging reflects breach of the special relationship of trust and confidence with the client
• Account rendered because the practitioner was 'cross' with the client after termination of instructions
• No justification for 'loading' the law clerk's time with an additional amount

Mitigating factors:

• Long, previous good record and experience of the practitioner (admitted 1977)
• Tribunal confident the deficiency would be remedied quickly and not recur
• No suggestion the client had been wrongly advised
• Not guilty on the third complaint