Monday, April 16, 2012

MAURICE LAW COMPLAINED TO LPCC REGARDING THE PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF CHRIS STOKES


MAURICE LAW
87 William Street, Herne Hill   6056                                                               08 9296 1555                                                                              
                                                                                                                          0402 002 797
Monday, April 16, 2012                                                                        

The Legal Profession Complaints Committee
2nd Floor Colonial Building, 55 St George's Terrace; PERTH WA 6000
PO Box Z5293,ST GEORGES TERRACE WA 6831
Phone: 08 9461 2299; Fax 08 9461 2265

Dear Sirs

Re: PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF MR. CHRIS STOKES, A LAWYER, MISDIRECTING THE PERTH SHERIFF IN THE WRONGFUL EXECUTION OF THE NULL COSTS ORDER OF REGISTRAR HEWITT AND DCJ SWEENEY DATED 15.4.2010 AND 8.11.2011 RESPECTIVELY, IN DCCIV 2509 OF 2002, THE SUBJECT OF JUDICIAL REVIEW IN CIV 1275 OF 2012 

I refer to the above matter and to the unlawful presence of the Mr. Steffens of the Perth Sheriff Office from the Central Law Courts, Level 5, 30 St. Georges Terrace, Perth at my residence on 29.3.2012 (the wrongful execution).

The wrongful execution caused me continuing traumas occasioned by the professional misconduct of Mr. Christopher Stokes, acting as solicitor for Ms. Michelle Marie Gannaway, despite my having written to the former on 29.3.2012 giving him NOTICE to the effect that neither I nor Cheryl Law were ever personally liable to Mrs. Gannaway for the wrongful costs orders on the grounds that we were never the parties to the suit but our corporate body Spunter Pty Ltd. The dispute in DCCIV 2509 of 2002 from which the improper or null costs orders arose is between the estate of Nancy Hall through its administrator Mrs. Gannaway and the said corporate body.  The ensuing caused me to pay the sum of about $22,000.00 in order to stop the Sheriff of Perth from locking us out of our own home (the damages).  

Despite the Notice sent by me to Mr. Stokes indicating to him that we as shareholders in a limited company in Spunter Pty Ltd are not personally liable for any of the debts of that company, other than for the value of our investments in that company, we have not received any response from you to it.  As a result of the wrongful exection and the damages resulting to us, I am now complaining to the LPCC and the Attorney General to take action against Mr. Christopher Stokes in terms of the following:

  1. His Honour Judge Sharp in LEGAL PROFESSION COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE and QUINLIVAN [2011] WASAT 138 (S) said at paragraph 16 and 10:
“16. Honesty, fairness and integrity are essential prerequisites to the right to practise law. The willingness to engage in dishonest behaviour is of central relevance to an assessment of a practitioner's fitness to practise; see Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee v McKerlie [2007] WASC 119 at [8] and Council of New South Wales Bar Association v Sahade [2007] NSWCA 145 at [58]. Further, fitness to practise requires that a practitioner must command the personal confidence of his or her clients, fellow practitioners and judges; see In Re Davis (1947) 75 CLR 409 at [420]. Account must also be taken by the Court of the effect which its order will have on the understanding, in the profession and the public, of the standard of behaviour required of solicitors; see Law Society of New South Wales v Foreman (1994) 34 NSWLR 408 at [444F].”
2.       20 In The Council of the Queensland Law Society Inc v Wright [2001] QCA 58, the Queensland Court of Appeal considered a case of a solicitor who had intentionally misled a Court and said:
The effective administration of the justice system and public confidence in it substantially depends on the honesty and reliability of practitioners' submissions to the court. This duty of candour and fairness is quintessential to the lawyer's role as officer of the court; the court and the public expect and rely upon it, no matter how new or inexperienced the practitioner. Breaches such as this are hard to detect and once established to the requisite standard are deserving of condign punishment, not only as a deterrent but also to reassure the public that such conduct on the part of lawyers will not be tolerated; at [67].
I would state that Mr. Chris Stokes misled DCJ Sweeney in order to procure the wrongful costs orders and had subsequently behaved dishonourably as member of the legal profession despite being warned not to do so.  This misconduct therefore requires your immediate action.   I therefore want my monies to be returned to me within 10 days from the date of this letter, including damages, failing which, I shall begin criminal prosecution against you on the ground that a criminal act has been committed upon me as I have been robbed of monies by a lawyer who has no rightful entitlements to them.  I shall require a jury of twelve persons to hear my case, just in case these things are not done correctly.
Yours truly,
M. Law

Chris Stokes
Chris Stokes & Associates
Barristers & Solicitors, Level 1, 459 Hay Street, PERTH WA 6000
Phone: 08 94211300, Fax: 9421 1399

The Attorney General of Western Australia
The 21st Floor, Governor Stirling Tower
197 St Georges Terrace,
PERTH WA 6000, Phone: (08) 9222 8800, Fax: (08) 9222 8801
Email: Minister.Porter@dpc.wa.gov.au 

Registrar Eldred
Court of Appeal Registrar, Supreme Court of Western Australia (Ref: CACV 144 of 2011 and CACV 5 OF 2012); Fax: 942155471

Registrar S Boyle
Supreme Court of Western Australia
(Ref: CIV 2157 of 2012)
Fax: Fax: 9221 8352





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