Michelle Cherie Harrington

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

Michelle Cherie Harrington, sole principal of Harrington Legal, faced seven charges relating to poor trust account management over several years, failure to have trust records externally examined, breach of practising certificate conditions, and repeated failures to respond to regulatory notices. The Tribunal found professional misconduct on Charges 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 and unsatisfactory professional conduct on Charges 4 and 5. No dishonesty was found and she was not held unfit to practise. Considering her cooperation, remorse and significant personal health issues, she was publicly reprimanded, prohibited from obtaining a principal certificate for two years after obtaining an employee-level certificate, subject to educational and psychological conditions, and ordered to pay the applicant's standard costs.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Handle inadvertently received material
• Hold a current practising certificate
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Trust account failures were substantial and consistent over several years
• Repeated disregard of obligations to respond to regulatory bodies
• Trust account management is fundamental to a solicitor's duty and its breach carries serious consequences

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the charges and cooperated from an early point
• Demonstrated insight, remorse and contrition
• Significant personal and family health issues (severe stress, anxiety, depression) during the relevant period
• Not found to be unfit to practise
• Has embarked on a new career and is attending to her mental health needs
• Supporting letter from treating psychologist