Decision record
English, Martin Francis
Allegation / charges
1. Breached an undertaking to the Legal Services Commissioner 2. Practised without a Practising Certificate 3. Failed to account 4. Wilfully breached Section 61 of the Legal Profession Act 1987 - handling of trust moneys 5. Misappropriated trust funds 6. Failed to comply with Section 152 Notice of the Legal Profession Act 1987 7. Failed to comply with Section 660 Notice of the Legal Profession Act 2004 8/ Failed to inform a client of a cost assessment application 9. Failed to inform a client of hearing 10. Consented to an indemnity costs order against a client without authority to do so 11. Breached an Undertaking given to the District Court on 7 December 2004 to pay the hearing allocation fees 12. Engaged in unethical conduct by failing to respond to a cost assessor's requisitions 13. Failed to attend a Court hearing on 22 August 2003 as a result of which the proceedings were struck out and costs awarded against the complainant company 14. Permitted the complainant company's case to be dismissed 15. Failed to advise that the case had been dismissed and that costs were awarded against the client 16. Negligent by failing to attend or arrange representation at Court appearances 17.Failed to advise his client (a) That on 22 August 2003 the Court ordered costs against the complainant company and had dismissed its claim (b) That on 4 December 2003 the Court awarded costs against the complainant company 18. Consented to a dismissal of the claim by a client on 7 December 2004 without the consent or knowledge of its Directors or the client 19. Misled or lied to his client The ground of unsatisfactory professional conduct was stated as: (1) Failed to transfer documents. — Professional Misconduct Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
A solicitor faced numerous charges including breach of undertakings, practising without a practising certificate, misappropriation of trust funds, breaching trust accounting provisions, failing to comply with statutory notices, mishandling client litigation (failing to attend court, allowing dismissal and consenting to orders without authority), and misleading/lying to a client. Conduct was categorised as professional misconduct, with the document handling failure treated as unsatisfactory professional conduct. The provided text does not state the sanction imposed or any costs/fine figures.
Duties found breached:
- No improper communication with the court
- Not mislead third parties or opponents
- Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
- Advise on alternatives, settlement and outcome
- No acting against a former client
- No conflict between current clients
- Handle inadvertently received material
- No improper use of client money
- Hold a current practising certificate
- Honour professional undertakings
- Not misrepresent regulated status
⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["extracted_from_register_summary"]
Duties engaged
- No improper communication with the court
- Not mislead third parties or opponents
- Keep client informed and respond promptly
- Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
- Advise on alternatives, settlement and outcome
- No acting against a former client
- No conflict between current clients
- Handle inadvertently received material
- No improper use of client money
- Hold a current practising certificate
- Honour professional undertakings
- Not misrepresent regulated status
Documents
No documents recorded.
Source: https://portal.olsc.nsw.gov.au/dasearchbn/daresultdetail/?id=305ea7df-b633-eb11-bf74-000d3ad1941e