Robin Carl TAMPOE

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

Robin Carl Tampoe, principal solicitor at Hoolihans Lawyers acting for Schapelle Corby, faced two charges. Charge 1 (professional misconduct) was that he breached his duty of confidentiality by disclosing confidential instructions about the Corby family's criminal history on the Channel 9 program 'Sunday' in June 2005, and stated Mercedes Corby had lied to him. Charge 2 (unsatisfactory professional conduct) concerned scandalous, offensive statements in the documentary 'Schapelle Corby: The Hidden Truth', including describing the family as 'trash' and suggesting he invented and could take away the 'baggage-handler defence'. The Tribunal found the confidentiality breach an egregious act of professional misconduct and the documentary comments scandalous and likely to bring the profession into disrepute. It concluded he was unsuitable to be a legal practitioner and recommended his removal from the roll, plus payment of $2,500 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Breach of confidentiality committed on a national television program
• Statements suggested that criminal defence lawyers invent defences, likely to undermine public confidence in the legal profession and criminal justice system
• Scandalous and offensive manner in which he spoke of his client and her family

Mitigating factors:

• Accepted the charges as particularised
• Claimed mistaken belief that the information was public knowledge and that Mr Bakir, not Ms Corby, was his client
• Expressed regret and said he did not fully appreciate the implications of his comments at the time