Solicitor Fined $30,000 For Conflict Of Interests
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer and Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Lawyers Real Estate
The Wangaratta Chronicle reports that a Wangaratta solicitor has been fined $30,000 after being found guilty misconduct.(Wangaratta Chronicle 1 May, 2006 p.3) According the article:
“Jeffrey Alexander Francis has been reprimanded by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and given three months to pay…It appears that the solicitor told the estate agent and his client that his wife had an interest in the company which purchased the property, but failed to disclose that he was also a shareholder, director and secretary of the company.
VCAT fined Mr Francis $30,000 on a charge of misconduct by failing to avoid a conflict of interest situation…
Mr Francis allegedly failed to tell a client, for whom he was acting in relation to the sale of land, that he was a director of the company purchasing the property.”
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