DAMIEN GERARD BRENNAN

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

Damien Gerard Brennan, a WA legal practitioner, was convicted in April 2009 on his plea of guilty to 70 counts of stealing (totalling $896,787) from a client, Josef Kopec, and his estate, and one count of attempting to gain a benefit by fraudulent means ($73,790.02 from sale of shares), and was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment. The Legal Profession Complaints Committee sought a finding of professional misconduct. The Tribunal (determined on the documents, with no appearance by the respondent) found the practitioner guilty of professional misconduct by illegal conduct, holding the conduct demonstrated unfitness to remain on the roll, and transmitted its reasons as a report to the Supreme Court (full bench) recommending removal of his name from the roll.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Continuity and handover of representation
• No improper use of client money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Offences were purposeful, not impulsive
• Described by sentencing judge as 'the worst possible offences for a solicitor'
• Betrayal of trust for personal greed and gain
• Practitioner became a serial offender over the period
• Large sum stolen ($896,787)

Mitigating factors:

• Pleaded guilty to the criminal charges