David Bray

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

Solicitor David Bray, principal of Bray Lawyers (trading as Your Claim Lawyers), was found to have advertised personal injury services in breach of s 66 of the PIPA via billboards/signage (including at a building found to be a hospital), an internet website and social media over periods up to almost 5 years. The Tribunal rejected the parties' joint submission that the conduct was merely unsatisfactory professional conduct with a $2,000 fine. Justice Davis found charges 1 and 2 constituted professional misconduct and charge 3 unsatisfactory professional conduct. No dishonesty was found (conduct characterised as reckless at best). The respondent was publicly reprimanded on each charge, fined a total of $30,000, and ordered to pay the Commissioner's costs on the standard basis.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• Truthful, non-misleading advertising

Aggravating factors:

• Offending conduct continued consistently over almost 5 years (charges 1 and 2)
• Respondent practised exclusively in personal injuries litigation and must have known the PIPA restricted advertising, yet failed to ensure compliance (reckless at best)
• Advertising gave respondent an advantage over compliant practitioners and frustrated the purposes of the PIPA
• Inference drawn that advertising provided benefit to the practice given the cost of the billboard ($8,000-$10,000/year)

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted to profession in 1991 with no prior adverse disciplinary finding
• Cooperated generally with the Commissioner's investigation and proceedings
• Made early admissions to salient facts and joined in the agreed statement of facts
• Demonstrated substantial insight and implemented changes to advertising practices
• Conduct ceased after detection