Briton Trevor Salter, who continued conducting transactions using the trust account of another practice after a lawyers standards committee had ordered him to cease the practice, has been censured and fined $5,000 by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal.

In [2015] NZLCDT 28, Mr Salter admitted the charges that he faced.

In March 2012, the standards committee found that Mr Salter had control over money but failed to pay it into a separate or general trust account of his firm.

The committee ordered Mr Salter to rectify the error by ceasing to use the trust account of another practice. It also ordered him to take advice from a senior lawyer as to the management of his practice.

In November 2013, the standards committee found Mr Salter was in breach of the March 2012 order. Mr Salter was again ordered to cease using the trust account of another practice for the purposes of transactional work.

Between 9 March 2012 and 5 February 2014 Mr Salter used the trust account of another practice for more than 250 transactions. He also failed to take advice from a senior lawyer as to the management of his practice.

Not permitted

Counsel for Mr Salter said that he now realised that conducting transactions through the trust account of another practice was not permitted for an incorporated law firm.

Since February 2014, when he obtained his Trust Account Supervisor certificate, Mr Salter’s “house has been in order”. He has apologised to the Law Society and the Tribunal for the problems he has caused by not having his Trust Account Supervisor certificate in place.

Mr Salter also said that he had one telephone conversation with the senior lawyer he was told he must take advice from. However he did not then receive any written correspondence said to be sent to him from the senior practitioner.

Mr Salter “now fully accepts that it was his obligation to follow up on the direction to accept the advice ordered”.

Save for mitigating factors, the Tribunal said, “it was considered that the practitioner’s misconduct sits above the lower end of the scale of seriousness and would warrant a period of suspension.

“The Tribunal has decided against that course after taking into account that [Mr Salter] has quite properly admitted the charges, has now made his practice compliant and has apologised to the [standards committee] and the Tribunal.”

As well as the censure and fine, Mr Salter was ordered to pay the Law Society $9,853.81 standards committee costs and $3,259 Tribunal costs.