The conduct subject of the charge occurred in the context of a civil litigation matter in which Ms Tabb was engaged to pursue debt collection for her client. The disputed debt was less than $42,000. Ms Tabb did not provide an engagement letter to her client and failed on several occasions to promptly inform her client about the progress of the file and of adverse decisions against them. Ms Tabb failed to comply with seven court directions and repeatedly failed to observe court timetables. She also failed to respond adequately or promptly to her client when contacted. Ms Tabb persisted in a “poor standard of performance” over a four-year period that eventually resulted in the client laying a complaint with the Lawyers Complaints Service.   The Tribunal held Ms Tabb’s ongoing failures to advance her client’s case in accordance with instructions and court directions, as well as the ongoing failures to keep her client properly apprised of the file and her failure to engage with her client when contacted, amounted to significant negligence. 

Ms Tabb accepted that her work on the file was “persistently sub-standard” admitting the charge of negligence. The Tribunal considered Ms Tabb had “carried too much work and failed to give individual attention to the matter”. However, it did not form the view that her “poor performance in this file was typical of her work generally” and considered it a mitigating factor that she had practised since 1997 without any prior disciplinary findings.  Ms Tabb was censured, fined $8,000, ordered to refund $7,000 in client fees and ordered to contribute to 80% of the Committees costs.