RONALD WILLIAM BOWER

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

Ronald William Bower, sole principal of Corser & Corser (admitted 1983), was found by the State Administrative Tribunal to have committed professional misconduct across two unrelated District Court matters, including serious findings of dishonesty: knowingly swearing and filing a false affidavit, causing an employee solicitor to swear three misleading affidavits, and sending/permitting false and misleading emails to a client. The Tribunal transmitted a report recommending removal; the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeals. Bower did not oppose removal. The Full Bench of the Supreme Court of WA found he was not a fit and proper person, emphasising his dishonest conduct was protracted, self-interested and exploited a vulnerable employee, and ordered his name removed from the roll. No order as to costs was made (costs not pressed).

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• Avoid wasting the court's time
• Keep client informed and respond promptly
• Handle inadvertently received material
• No improper use of client money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Causing a vulnerable employee (Mr S), who Mr Bower knew was suffering symptoms of bi-polar disorder, to swear three misleading affidavits and effectively instructing him as to their misleading contents
• Took advantage of a vulnerable employee, placing him in an invidious position
• Conduct was protracted, intentional and occurred across two separate matters over several months
• Dishonest conduct motivated by self-interest to avoid consequences of his own defaults
• Not a junior practitioner - admitted 1983 and sole principal, acting under no pressure from others
• Failed to admit impropriety, pursued defence to final determination
• Not remorseful and lacked insight into his conduct

Mitigating factors:

• Prior major depressive illness in 2006 and stress/anxiety in 2012
• Undertaken pro bono and community work
• Provided 30 character references from people aware of the misconduct findings
• Did not oppose the removal order