Lawyers accused of wrongly taking fees named

Two Timaru lawyers who allegedly took fees from a settlement account without permission can now be named after the High Court upheld a finding of professional misconduct.

The High Court rejected an appeal by Edward Sullivan and John McGlashan against the professional misconduct finding by the Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal last October, the Timaru Herald reported.

It also rejected their application for permanent name suppression. That application was also declined by the tribunal but the failure of their appeal means they can now be named.

Sullivan and McGlashan did not appeal the penalties handed down by the tribunal. Each man was fined $5000, ordered to pay $5000 in compensation to the client and more than $14,000 in costs to the Canterbury District Law Society.

It was alleged that when $100,000 came due to the company of two directors who were clients of theirs, $22,022 was taken for one of the directors' unpaid accounts.

The tribunal found that Sullivan and McGlashan did not have the right to deduct the fees.

At appeal they accepted their interpretation was mistaken but they said they were not guilty of professional misconduct as they had not acted knowingly, a position the High Court rejected.

- NZPA