For Immediate Release 21 April 2023 CUSTODIAL SENTENCE FOR STRUCK OFF LAWYER
On Friday 21 April 2023, the Legal Services Commissioner successfully prosecuted Mr Paul John Crowley for holding himself out to be a legal practitioner and engaging in legal practice when not a legal practitioner.
Mr Crowley was convicted of six offences under the Legal Profession Act 2007 and sentenced in the Brisbane Magistrates Court to a period of three months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for an operational period of nine months. Mr Crowley was also ordered to pay the Legal Services Commissioner’s costs.
Mr Crowley is presently serving a period of imprisonment for an unrelated matter.
Legal Services Commissioner Megan Mahon said: “Mr Crowley represented to the court and to the public that he was a legal practitioner. He engaged in legal practice on behalf of three clients. It is against the law for someone to impersonate a lawyer, or to provide legal services if they are not an Australian legal practitioner.”
Mr Crowley is a former legal practitioner who was struck off the solicitor’s roll in Queensland in 2000.
Despite this, Mr Crowley appeared on behalf of three clients in different matters and represented to the various Magistrates Courts that he was a legal practitioner who was employed as a consultant at a law firm. In those matters, Mr Crowley made substantial submissions to the court, including an application to vary a Domestic and Family Violence Protection Order.
Commissioner Mahon said: “It is important that the Court and the public have confidence that those persons appearing as legal practitioners have the qualifications and authorisation to do so. The Commission’s responsibility includes taking action against unlawful operators to ensure Queenslanders and the Queensland legal profession are protected from those doing the wrong thing.”
Unqualified providers of legal services are typically individuals who are engaging in the practice of law without holding a practising certificate, and more often, without any qualifications at all. They can be the subject of criminal prosecution as an ‘unlawful operator’ under the Legal Profession Act 2007.
The Legal Services Commission is an independent regulator of the legal profession in Queensland, which includes ensuring persons not entitled to practice law or represent themselves as lawyers, solicitors, or barristers when they are not, are dealt with appropriately.
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For more information: www.lsc.qld.gov.au Media Contact: Brad Fitzgerald, Legal Services Commission, 07 3564 7715
