Lawyer in damaged mirror row

The Eagle Bar on K Road. Photo / Doug Sherring

A lawyer banned from legal aid work and later convicted of drink-driving and resisting arrest has now been embroiled in a legal battle over an Auckland cocktail bar - with his business partner claiming he damaged the bar's $20,000 mirror.

Auckland barrister Brett Ravelich was last year removed from the list of Legal Services Agency providers for failing to comply with "one or more of the conditions of approval".

The agency said at the time that he had received $435,161.49 in legal aid payments in the four years to June 2010.

Then, earlier this year, he was temporarily suspended from practising after being found guilty by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal of resisting police arrest, being convicted of drink-driving related charges and "conduct unbecoming of a barrister".

Now, in a High Court decision, Justice Christian Whata has outlined a dispute between Ravelich and business partner James Manning over the Eagle Bar on Karangahape Rd.

Ravelich, the lessee, applied for an injunction preventing Manning and his company from operating the bar. The application was declined but another order has been put in place prohibiting Ravelich from "using, removing, disposing of or diminishing the value" of the property.

Manning, a shareholder, had alleged that in the weeks leading up to the court action, Ravelich changed the locks, took assets from the bar and damaged a $20,000 mirror.

Ravelich has dismissed the dispute as "just between business partners". Manning could not be reached for comment.