Lawyer fined $10k for trust account shortcomings

Auckland lawyer John Appleby has been fined $10,000 after an inspection of his firm's trust accounts. Photo / Thinkstock

An Auckland lawyer has been fined $10,000 for shortcomings of his firm's trust account procedures and records.

The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has found John Walter Appleby guilty of misconduct, the Law Society said in a statement.

The tribunal ordered that Appleby be censured, pay a fine of $10,000, cover the costs to the Law Society and make a number of undertakings.

The Law Society brought a case against Appleby over his actions in supervising his law firm's trust account.

"It followed an inspection by a New Zealand Law Society inspector, who found Mr Appleby's trust account systems, procedures and records were less than satisfactory in a number of ways. A resulting investigation led to the charge after it was found Mr Appleby had not met a number of trust account requirements, including filing incorrect certificates," The Law Society said.

The tribunal said Appleby admitted responsibility for his failings and while he denied that he knowingly or recklessly filed incorrect certificates, he accepted had done so negligently.

"We have been satisfied that this was an isolated example. The practitioner has been clearly remorseful and has rehabilitated himself by the steps he has taken to ensure there is no repetition," the tribunal said.