Lawyer Fails to Have Her Termination for Misconduct Overturned

A lawyer has failed to convince the FWC that her termination for various matters amounting to serious misconduct was harsh, unjust or unreasonable, with the Commission dismissing her application.

The lawyer, 'Ms B', was employed by Men's Legal Service Ltd, based in Darwin, as a solicitor from 23 November 2020 until her date of dismissal on 25 February 2024.

An initial meeting was held with her in January 2024, where her employer alleged that she had spent excessive work hours supervising a junior lawyer in an effort to make his billings 'look better' so he would receive a pay rise.

This is a practice known as 'padding' or 'gaming' the timekeeping system that was expressly forbidden by an existing policy 'Expectations of Fee Earners'.

She was stood down on full pay.

An internal investigation led to a further allegation that she had failed to keep accurate time records, resulting in significant underbilling of work for clients. The lawyer admitted that the allegations were true but claimed it was simply the way that she arranged her work.

She also had carriage of a matter referred to as the 'W File' where she failed to comply with Court Orders, consequently putting the client and her firm at risk of a court order being made against them.

The lawyer did not accept responsibility but rather claimed that her actions were signed off by Counsel in delaying the hearing of the matter.

A further incident involved allegations that Ms B had made inappropriate comments towards an opposing practitioner and yelled at them during a meeting. Despite her denying the incident occurred, the allegations were confirmed with two other legal practitioners present at the time.

Ms B was also found to have breached a condition of her stand down by contacting members of the firm after being informed that she must only contact certain staff members if she wished to discuss any aspect of her stand down.

Commissioner Bernie Riordan found that a significant majority of the allegations against Ms B were substantiated and warranted termination of her employment.

Commissioner Riordan noted,

"The most serious accusation in my view is in relation to the filling out of timesheets and the Applicant 'giving her time' to her colleague, Mr (C). The Applicant has admitted that she was involved in this practice but only because she was training or supervising Mr (C) … Mr (S) testified that the Applicant had no right to make any decision not to bill for her hours – that was his job".

The application was dismissed.

DB v Men's Legal Service Ltd [2024] FWC 1770 (22 August 2024)

For queries about allegations of misconduct or other employment questions, please contact Dean Cameron at Workforce Advisory Lawyers – We Know Employment Law on 0417 622 178, 1300 WAL LAW or via email to dean.cameron@workforceadvisory.com.au

Disclaimer: This information is provided as general advice on workplace relations and employment law. It does not constitute legal advice, and it is always advisable to seek further information regarding specific workplace issues. Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.