SALLY MARJORIE VANDERFEEN

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

Ms Vanderfeen, a solicitor at Patterson and Dowding, was found guilty of professional misconduct for filing family court consent orders transferring a property to her client to defeat a third party purchaser's claim, without disclosing the third party's interest to the court, and for recklessly/intentionally misleading the Family Court as to the reasons for urgency. Allegations that she misled the Complaints Committee were not made out. The Tribunal made no express finding of dishonesty. It declined to recommend striking off, finding she remained fit to practise, and instead imposed a $20,000 fine (near the $25,000 maximum) plus costs of $18,412.70, noting suspension would have no practical effect given she now works as a Family Court Registrar.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• No improper communication with the court
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Recklessly/intentionally misleading a court, a matter of utmost seriousness undermining the administration of justice
• Continued failure to disclose to the Court and the third party's solicitors over an extended period
• Formed an intention to defeat the third party's claim to the property
• Ignored repeated communications from the third party's solicitors
• Continued denial of her motivation for the conduct

Mitigating factors:

• Otherwise impeccable professional career of over 22 years with no prior or subsequent disciplinary action
• Strong character references from judges, magistrates, registrars and senior practitioners attesting to her integrity
• Conduct found to be a single aberration and out of character
• Acknowledged her conduct was a serious error of judgment
• Primary motivation was misguided desire to protect her client's interests, not personal gain
• Disclosed the complaint when applying for appointment as a Registrar