Lawyer sent to prison for dipping into widow's cash

The Law Society says it is considering David Watt's continued right to practise. Picture / Kenny Rodger

David Watt's lawyer colleagues found him diligent, conscientious, a capable administrator. He had the suits, the swanky legal premises and the charm. He also knew when to turn on his timer, charging in six-minute intervals of $25, or $250 an hour, plus GST.

But after venturing into sole practice in downtown Auckland, it seems he struggled to keep up appearances. When, as trustee of the estate of the late Leonard Hoare, he gained access to $100,000, he found ways to claim the lot in legal fees. And when the money ran out, he took out a mortgage against the home of Valda Hoare, Len's second wife, and continued to pay himself.

Throughout, he kept the beneficiaries - Valda Hoare and Len's five sons from his first marriage - in the dark.

In the Auckland District Court yesterday, Watt, 53, was jailed for 15 months and granted leave to apply for home detention after offering to pay back $60,000.

"It's not great justice really," Mrs Hoare, 83, said from her Hamilton home. "I think he's got off very lightly for the amount of stress and worry over the years.

"It seems to have been going on so long. It's too much for an old girl. It's something you don't need."

Over a three-year period, the estate was charged about $160,000 when Watt's only real duties were the sale of the couple's Piha home and purchase of a cheaper replacement home for Mrs Hoare in Picton.

The surplus generated was supposed to be invested with the BNZ but Watt lodged the money with his own bank.

When Len Hoare's sons hired a lawyer and began querying the terms of the will, he used their questions as an excuse to charge the estate. He sought advice from a solicitor, Steve Gulley, and barrister Stephen Piggin which would cost the estate another $30,000.

Mrs Hoare only learned of the fraud, which began in 1998, in March 2001 when she decided to sell her Picton home and move to Hamilton.

"I asked him how much was in the kitty and he said there was nothing," she said. "I didn't speak to him after that.

"You expect to be able to trust your lawyer. It doesn't give them a very good name, does it?"

Watt was found guilty in February of defrauding the estate. He had kept meticulous records attributing much of his billing to the sons' queries, which he described as a potential court challenge and negligence threat.

But Judge Roderick Joyce, QC, found Watt deliberately overstated the risks and created a paper trail designed to justify his activities. He played on a supposed rift between the sons and their stepmother but the judge found the relationship was amicable.

In submissions on sentencing, defence lawyer Paul Davison, QC, said Watt fell from grace after initially making sensible and reasonable decisions.

The sons' lawyer, the late Brian Kennedy, laid several complaints with the Auckland District Law Society, which initiated two cost reviews reducing Watt's bills by a combined 17 per cent.

In sentencing, Judge Joyce said Watt's early billing was compounded by a seemingly relentless determination to follow down that path.

"At trial a general impression of financial need having overwhelmed good sense and integrity emerged."

The Law Society says it is considering Watt's continued right to practise.