REGINA IS CURRENTLY A PRACTISING AUSTRALIAN LEGAL PRACTITIONER WORKING AS A L

Regina is currently a practising Australian Legal Practitioner working as a Lawyer at HarrisonLawyers in Victoria and recently read a story of Twitter feeds regarding a solicitor who was struckoff the practising roll for failure to make full disclosure of academic misconduct, which jolted hermemory that she did not make a full disclosure of academic misconduct which happened backwhen she was studying Criminal Law.2. The incident involved academic collusion although she describes it as a minor incident where shediscussed an individual assessment with a colleague, and they were overheard by anotherstudent who reported them leading to a disciplinary hearing and being awarded a zero mark forthe assignment. No formal record was recorded, and she recalls not disclosing this incident whenshe first applied to be admitted as a Lawyer because she felt it was ‘minor’ and felt the ‘UnitChair overreacted’ and that it was never formally referred to the university Board.3. Regina is now getting worried she should have disclosed this incident as part of her applicationfor admission to practice with the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (“the Board”). This concernforms the basis for her need for advice as she ‘doesn’t want to be struck off the roll.’4. The second issue arises because Regina agreed to represent Mr Hayes, in a legal matter relatedto a Worker’s Compensation claim but got caught up in other tasks and did not get time topursue the matter to conclusion in line with the terms of the engagement. Regina did notcommunicate with Mr Hayes and found him to be ‘super annoying’ as he kept calling andemailing’ her when she was swamped. The presented facts are that Regina just ignored him andput his file aside until he emailed her after six months and informed her that he had sought legaladvice from another solicitor and blamed her for the delay in receiving his compensation. WhileRegina states that she has not received any formal complaint from the Victoria Legal ServicesCommission (VLSC), she is very concerned and seeking advice on whether her conduct in thismatter breached any ethical duties as she believes she did not do anything wrong but was ‘justtoo busy’.5. The third and final issue involves her conduct while representing her friend Mr Cooper , in a legalmatter . Regina has a personal relationship with Mr Cooper in this proceeding as she indicatedthey went to school together and could speak to him the way she did with no repercussions.Regina had on one occasion chastened Mr Cooper and called him ‘stupid’ and an ‘idiot’ forsigning the contract of purchase without consulting her first. On reflection, Regina believes shewas harsh but thought they are good friends. She now requires advice on whether her actionsbreached any ethical duties as she is good friends with Mr Cooper.