Ethics & Standards Quarterly: decisions of the Law Society Council

Decisions in relation to practising certificates

The following decisions, which are recorded in the Office of Legal Services Commissioner Disciplinary Register, were made by the Council:

Lawyer Name: Payne, Peter Desmond
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 15-Feb-2013
Law Practice: Peter Payne Law Pty Ltd
Business Address or Former Address: 16 Barton Street Cobar NSW 2835
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Solicitor has been charged with a serious offence.
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 20-Dec-2022
Disciplinary Action: Suspension of Practising Certificate

Lawyer Name: Senanayake, Chanaka
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 02-Apr-2004
Law Practice: SBC Lawyers and Solicitors
Business Address or Former Address: 48 Macquarie Street, Parramatta NSW 2150
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Finding: Not a fit and proper person to hold an Australian practising certificate
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 08-Dec-2022
Disciplinary Action: Refusal to issue Practising Certificate for the period ending 30 June 2023

Lawyer Name: Tran, Dam Viet Quoc (Aka Anthony Tran)
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 17-Dec-1999
Law Practice: (former practice) Gibson Tran Lawyers
Business Address or Former Address: (former practice address) Unit 16-17, 73-79 John Street Cabramatta NSW 2166
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Practising certificate suspended on 21 May 2020 with regard to the serious trust account irregularities detailed in the trust report dated 27 March 2020.
Finding: Not a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 20-Oct-2022
Disciplinary Action: Refusal to issue Practising Certificate for the practice year ending 30 June 2023
Specified Duration: Manager re-appointed on 5 May 2022
Manager Appointed: Yes
Manager Appointed Date: 27-Apr-2020

Lawyer Name: Sideris, George
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 03-Jul-1987
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Designated Show Cause Event Notice issued to the Solicitor under s 90 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (Uniform Law) in which it was alleged, among other matters, that:

(1) The Solicitor had engaged in legal practice outside the terms of his “corporate legal practitioner” practising certificate: s 90(a)(i) of the Uniform Law; and

(2) The Solicitor had provided legal services not permitted by, or under, the Uniform Law: s 90(a)(ii) of the Uniform Law

Finding: Not a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 20-Oct-2022
Disciplinary Action: Suspension of Practising Certificate for the year ending 30 June 2022 and continuing for the year ending 30 June 2023 until such time as the suspension is lifted or cancelled

Lawyer Name: Primerano (aka Mitris), Sandra
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 05-Jul-2013
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Solicitor has been charged with a number of serious offences.
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 15-Dec-2022
Disciplinary Action: Immediate suspension of Practising Certificate. The suspension will operate until the earlier of: the end of the period of 56 days after notice is given or the time at which Council of the Law Society of NSW informs the solicitor of its decision under Part 3.5.

Lawyer Name: Green, Barbara Ann
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 20-May-1974
Law Practice: Hermann & Green
Business Address or Former Address: Unit 97 2-4 Purser Avenue Castle Hill NSW 2152
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Serious criminal conduct – dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E(1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
Taking deliberate advantage on numerous occasions of opportunities arising out of her employment, and the trust reposed in her, as a solicitor
Repeated and intentional breaches of the professional rules imposed for the protection of client trust funds.
Finding: Not a fit and proper person to remain on the Roll of Australian Lawyers
By: Supreme Court of New South Wales Court of Appeal
Date: 14-Dec-2022
Disciplinary Action: Costs and removal of lawyer’s name from the Roll of Australian lawyers
Proceedings Instituted By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Citation: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Green [2022] NSWCA 257

Lawyer Name: Li, Gen
Lawyer type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 23-Feb-2015
Law Practice: Sun Lawyers Pty Ltd
Business Address or Former Address: Suite 703 265 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: The solicitor admitted to issuing false invoices to clients directing that they pay funds into his personal bank account (of approximately $150,000) and making unauthorised trust transfers from his employer’s trust account.
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 20-Oct-2022
Disciplinary Action: Cancellation of Practising Certificate

Lawyer Name: Markovski, Norma
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 27-Aug-1999
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Conviction for a serious offence, namely “deal with property the suspected proceeds of crime => $100,000” pursuant to s193C (1) of the Crimes Act 1900.
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 20-Oct-2022
Disciplinary Action: Cancellation of Practising Certificate

Lawyer Name: Rizk, Bilal
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 24-Aug-2012
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: Solicitor failed to provide written notification & a written statement of an Automatic Show Cause Event in relation to a bankruptcy related event.
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 08-Dec-2022
Disciplinary Action: Refusal to renew practising certificate

Decisions to externally intervene in a Law Practice:

The Council of the Law Society of NSW appointed managers to the following practices:

Lawyer Name: Tees, Alexander Andrew
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 17-May-1991
Law Practice: Alexander Tees
Business Address or Former Address: Level 1 299 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
Substance of Conduct Matter: A manager was appointed to the law practice after the practitioner’s practising certificate was varied from that of a principal of a law practice to an employee of a law practice, and as a result the law practice was not able to operate. The practising certificate was varied for the following reasons:

(i)  section 82(1)(a) – the Solicitor failed to comply with the conditions of his practising certificate;

(ii) section 82(1)(d) – Council reasonably believed that the solicitor is unable to fulfil the inherent requirements of an Australian legal practitioner as a principal of a law practice due to an ongoing failure over a period of 15 months to comply with a Management System Direction issued by the Legal Services Commissioner, and failure to comply with the conditions of his practising certificate.

By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 08-Dec-2022
Specified Duration: for a period of two years
Manager Appointed: Yes
Manager Appointed Date: 08-Dec-2022

Lawyer Name: Rogers, Michael Edward
Lawyer Type: Solicitor
Date/s of Admission/s: 23-Dec-1977
Law Practice: MER Legal Pty Ltd
Business Address or Former Address: 75 Walder Road Hammondville NSW 2170
Place of Issue of Practising Certificate: New South Wales
By: Council of the Law Society of New South Wales
Date: 15-Dec-2022
Manager Appointed: Yes
Manager Appointed Date: 15-Dec-2022