by Ganesh Sahathevan
This is an excerpt from Nine Network's Current Affair story by Hannah Sinclair, about one Alexander Stuart Pinnock who practised as "a fake lawyer under the alias Alec Stuart":
Pinnock's web of deception began when he got his hands on a fake degree.
"I received my legal qualifications at Charleston State University in South Carolina in the United States," Pinnock said. But he never went to that university because it doesn't exist.
Charleston State University is a website that offers fake degrees for life experience.
For one like Pinnock's, it costs around $522.
The website is so convincing, Pinnock said he believed his degree was real.
"It was not a study course; it was all granted under recognition of prior learning," Pinnock said.
Pinnock believed his previous experience as a ranger for the City of Sydney, coupled with qualifications he claimed to have gained in investigations and business studies were enough to equip him with a law degree without ever studying.
"I received the certificate. I sent it the next day to the New South Wales Law Society along with an application for associate membership," Pinnock said.
"They reviewed it. I received a telephone call saying it had been approved and I was issued a membership number
There are a number of problems with the account above, which require explanation from the NSW Law Society, and the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board .First, Associate Membership is provided to persons who are legally qualified provided the "legal qualification (is) recognised for the purposes of admission as a lawyer in Australia".
In any event, being a qualification from a foreign university the qualifications would have had to be first submitted to the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB) for evaluation. There is then usually a direction from the NSW LPAB to undertake and pass studies in legal subjects offered by the NSW LPAB in order to be considered by the NSW LPAB to be fit and proper for admission to practise.
Finally, as anyone who has dealt with the very thorough and meticulous officers of the NSW LPAB and NSW Law Society would know, one does not simply submit a "certificate", one must submit a duly certified statement of academic record, which would contain the details of subject studied and grades obtained.
The NSW Law Society and NSW LPAB seemed to have overlooked all of the above in granting Pinnock Associate Membership.
That however, is not all. According the Cassandra Banks,President Of law Society NSW:
.........he falsely declared that he was the holder of a current NSW practising certificate in order to obtain a NSW Law Society membership card for those who hold practising certificates.This was two months after he had been granted Associate Membership.
Note however that Pinnock says " I sent (the Charleston State University) certificate....to the New South Wales Law Society along with an application for associate membership," Pinnock said.
"They reviewed it. I received a telephone call saying it had been approved and I was issued a membership number.
Banks also says:
Mr Pinnock created a false NSW Practising certificate and Certificate of Good Standing, which were used to apply for a practising certificate in Queensland
How Pinnock managed to forge a Certificate of Good Standing issued by the NSW LPAB and a NSW Practising certificate is a mystery. The style, form and content of these documents are not commonly known.
The NSW Law Society and the NSW LPAB must provide clarification and the names of all involved in this incident.A formulation of words will not suffice.
END
Statement by the President of the Law Society of NSW Cassandra Banks:
The application form for Associate Membership makes clear you should not use that form if you wish to hold a practising certificate.
The Society's website also makes clear that you need a practising certificate in order to practice law in NSW.
Admissions continued throughout the pandemic and were conducted online. This was widely known at the time.
For one of the matters in respect of which Mr Pinnock is convicted for holding himself out as a lawyer, Mr Pinnock declared he had been admitted on 5 January 2020. This was not true.
Mr Pinnock would also appear to be well aware of the requirement for a practising certificate in order to practise as a solicitor.
For the above offence, Mr Pinnock created a false NSW Practising certificate and Certificate of Good Standing, which were used to apply for a practising certificate in Queensland. The application was later withdrawn.
For another offence where he was convicted of holding himself out as a solicitor, on 25 January 2022, he falsely declared that he was the holder of a current NSW practising certificate in order to obtain a NSW Law Society membership card for those who hold practising certificates.
This was two months after he had been granted Associate Membership.
These do not appear to be the actions of a person who misunderstood the requirement to hold a practising certificate.
Mr Pinnock pleaded guilty to all offences.
The letter to Mr Pinnock of 17 March 2023 has invited him to put in writing any additional information he wishes to provide. The Society also encouraged him to seek legal advice before making further disclosures. This is appropriate given criminal proceedings against Mr Pinnock remained before the Court at that time and that he is unrepresented.
The Society considers all allegations of unqualified practice referred to it.
In the absence of consent from Mr Pinnock in respect of the information provided by him as part of his application, further comment is not able to be provided.
No comments:
Post a Comment