A letter from a learned friend in Victoria about some lawyers' trust account rules

Glenn Milne

Harold Pinter - truth, politics and art

A letter from a learned friend in Victoria about some lawyers' trust account rules

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Dear Michael

Further to my email last December and your post today, I found this reference on the Law Institute Website - http://www.liv.asn.au/About-LIV/History-Awards/LIVing-History

Friday Facts: Issue 555 - 30 January 2009

The complete Rules made pursuant to the Legal Profession Practice Act 1958 including Trust Account and Conduct Rules as at August 1978 was a 28 page booklet.

Further, Trust Account Rule 40 required Trust Ledger Accounts to be retained indefinitely, and all other records to be retained for seven years. See Conduct Rule 2(5) provides that the word "barrister/solicitor" on a sign shall not exceed 3" in height or in width unless express permission is obtained from the Law Institute Council. See also the four times advertisement insertion Conduct Rule in 2(3)(b)(iii).

Sometime later in December, I looked up the State Library and found the Rules as at 1984. See also

Practice rules 1998 : trust account practice rules & solicitors' (professional conduct and practice) rules 1984 / Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd.

[Melbourne? : Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd? 1988

Available State Library of Victoria Request from onsite storage SLTF 346.945059 P88V (1998)

The 1984 Rules can also be found in the Law Institute library -

Practice Rules 1998 - Trust Account Practice Rules & Solicitors' (Professional Conduct and Practice) Rules 1984

Title:

Practice Rules 1998 - Trust Account Practice Rules & Solicitors' (Professional Conduct and Practice) Rules 1984

Author: Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd ;

Year: 1998

Format: BookEven in 1984, the procedure for issuing receipts etc was the same as the later version of the rules in 2005.

So, by rights –

1. SnG should still have these trust account records;

2. The receipt should have been made out to and issued to the AWU-WRA Inc as the drawer of the cheque;

3. The receipt entry and the trust account journal entry should have been the same;

4. The Law Institute auditors should have picked up any discrepancy.

All the best,

Posted at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)

Comments

Dear Michael

Further to my email last December and your post today, I found this reference on the Law Institute Website - http://www.liv.asn.au/About-LIV/History-Awards/LIVing-History

Friday Facts: Issue 555 - 30 January 2009

Sometime later in December, I looked up the State Library and found the Rules as at 1984. See also

Practice rules 1998 : trust account practice rules & solicitors' (professional conduct and practice) rules 1984 / Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd.

[Melbourne? : Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd? 1988

Available State Library of Victoria Request from onsite storage SLTF 346.945059 P88V (1998)

The 1984 Rules can also be found in the Law Institute library -

Practice Rules 1998 - Trust Account Practice Rules & Solicitors' (Professional Conduct and Practice) Rules 1984

Title:

Practice Rules 1998 - Trust Account Practice Rules & Solicitors' (Professional Conduct and Practice) Rules 1984

Author: Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd ;

Year: 1998

Format: BookEven in 1984, the procedure for issuing receipts etc was the same as the later version of the rules in 2005.

So, by rights –

1. SnG should still have these trust account records;

2. The receipt should have been made out to and issued to the AWU-WRA Inc as the drawer of the cheque;

3. The receipt entry and the trust account journal entry should have been the same;

DATE	EVENT/DOCUMENT
1990	Julia Gillard becomes a Partner at Slater and Gordon and is in the Industrial Relations Department of law firm
20-08-91	Letter to Bruce Wilson from Julia Gillard concerning a vacancy at the AWU
1-05-91	Julia Gillard brought her property at 36 Phillip Street, Abbotsford Vic property settled in July and she borrowed $40,000 from Slater & Gordon for the deposit and the rest from Westpac bank
6-03-92	Advertisement appeared in the paper for Incorporating the Workplace Reform Association - Theiss may have used it for reference

17-03-92	Locals concerned the Accident and Death Fund was being used to buy property and office equipment with the funds they paid into the fund.
18-03-92	Boulder fund suspended
15-05-92	Bruce Wilson and Julia Gillard go to a meeting with the miners in Kalgoorlie
18-05-92	AWU announce it is taking over the fund at Boulder paper article
13-02-93	Contract of sale signed by Bruce Wilson
13-02-93	Purchase of 85 Kerr Street Fitzroy by Julia Gillard and B Wilson who attended the Auction
13-02-93	blewitt-getting-his-addres.html Purchase of 85 Kerr Street Fitzroy by Julia Gillard and Bruce Wilson who attended the Auction
15-02-93	Letter to Slater & Gordon about the 1/85 Kerr Street sale
15-02-93	Ralph Blewitt is appointed Western Australian Branch Secretary in the week 15 to 19 February
16-02-93	Olive Brosnan and Heidi chasing up the Power of Attorney - notes
17-02-93	Olive Brosnan makes this further note regarding Heidi, a sales person with the Real Estate firm GA Thomson. Note that Heidi returns the call and says that she will let Olive Brosnan have the original Power of Attorney (when she gets it?) and will need a certified copy in return
22-02-93	Slater and Gordon acknowledges that it has received the Contract of Sale, Section 32 Statement and the Power of Attorney from GA Thomson.
23-02-93	Olive Brosnan certifies Power of Attorney
3-03-93	A memo from Sylvia to Olive Brosnan about the application for the loan for Ralph Blewitt and the Kerr Street property
4-03-93	Letter/fax from Hewitt & Company stating Ralph Blewitt Wages Ref VB/CS
9-03-93	Memo to Olive Brosnan from Sylvia about the loan approval and the return of the chq for $500 from Ralph Blewitt’s personal account
10-03-93	Letter from Slater & Gordon addressed to Ralph Blewitt explaining mortgage details Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
10-03-93	Memo Julia Gillard wants details of penalty interest rates
12-03-93	Memo to Julia Gillard from Olive Brosnan about penalty interest rates
17-03-93	Memo of fees for house - Bill of costs
18-03-93	Letter to Ralph Blewitt requesting Cheque for $67,772.30
18-03-93	The cheque for $67,772.30
22-03-93	Settlement date for Kerr Street purchase
23-03-93	Land Transfer document
31-03-94	Dawesville project costs
Aug-Sept 94	Julia Gillard went on holidays while Bruce Wilson organised house renovations
Aug-Sept 94	Interview with Slater & Gordon about the Renovations
6-02-95	New bank accounts for Construction Fund
17-02-95	AWU-FIME amalgamate (2 Victorian Branches)
12-04-95	Cheque from AWU WRAI account $46,550
27-04-95	Cheque for $15000 - $10 000 for K Spyridis and $5000 cash
30-06-95	AWU went back to central funding arrangements
25-07-95	Letter from Robert Smith (AWU) to Ian Cambridge and Steve Harrison about the unknown AWU bank accounts
27-07-95	Letter to the National Executives about the freezing of the accounts
2-08-95	Union National Finance committee meet to discuss what was going on start of investigations into the frozen accounts
4-08-95	Bob Smith wrote to Ian Cambridge to say the AWU was going to charge Bruce Wilson
10-08-95	Ian Cambridge visits QC Richard Kenzie from Maurice Blackburn for discussions to fix it (get union money back)
14-08-95	Internal Review into Julia Gillard’s involvement of the AWU -WRA and she is put on restricted duties
14/15 Aug 95	Other Joint secretaries of the Unions paid out the signatories of the accounts - hand writing on the cheques Link 1 Link 2
16-08-95	Bruce Wilson redundancy cheque $55,204
17-08-95	Letter to stop the cheques Ian Cambridge
17/18 Aug 95	All accounts were closed bar 2 general and grants accounts and redundancies given out
18-08-95	Affidavit - Bill Ludwig - Bruce Wilson get sprung
11-09-95	Julia Gillard interviewed by Geoff Shaw, Peter Gordon and Nick Styant-Browne at Slater and Gordon - It’s recorded and she goes on leave of Absence until May 96 (WA AWU-WRA not yet discovered by AWU yet)
31-01-96	Ian Cambridge addresses AWU Qld Branch meeting
3-04-96	Ian Cambridge talked with Commonwealth Bank - Diary entry - Discovery of Workplace Reform Association INC. WA branch
6-05-96	Discovery of Accounts in AWU name by Ian Cambridge letter from Commonwealth Bank
7-05-96	Fax from Com bank listing the accounts in the AWU name - for Ian Cambridge
1-06-96	Newspaper article about Joe Trio and the AWU fraud article from sometime in 1996
3-06-96	Ian Cambridge received bank records after the discussions with the bank back in April Ian Cambridge spoke to AWU Officials in Perth and they never heard of the Workplace Reform Association Inc.
5-07-96	Diary entry Ian Cambridge - spoke to Branch Official Russell Frearson about the $400,000 going through the account
31-07-96	Geoff Shaw Slater & Gordon General Manager gets Subpoena to supply all documents relating to purchase of 1/85 Kerr Street
13-08-96	Court proceeding where Geoff Shaw is to produce the documents from the Subpeona Link 1, Link 2
6-01-97	Memo from Investigating Detective Dave McAlpine about the AWU fraud
6-02-97	Memo to fraud squad from Theiss stating they hadn’t been defrauded Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
17-02-98	Memo fraud squad about Theiss - Ralph Blewitt said Theiss auditors required that the WRA needed to be Inc.