MAURICE LAW
0402
002 797
Email: Moza35@bigpond.com
The Legal Profession Complaints Committee
2nd Floor Colonial Building St George's PERTH
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:
- 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
Phone: 08 94211300, Fax: 9421 1399
The Attorney General
of Western Australia
The 21st Floor, Governor Stirling Tower
197 St Georges Terrace,PERTH
Email: Minister.Porter@dpc.wa.gov.au
197 St Georges Terrace,
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
Wow, sounds like quite the legal debacle! It's disheartening to hear about cases of professional misconduct. On a slightly different note, I've been looking into finding a reliable QLD body corporate manager for some upcoming property matters. Any recommendations or insights from the community?
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