Now, Dorbu is back before the same tribunal that struck him off nearly 15-years-ago to ask for his practising certificate back.
“I am a new person now,” he told the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal this morning.
“The past wasn’t me, it wasn’t who I am.”
Dorbu is back with a new name as well, having applied for restoration to the roll under the name James McConnor.
However, the New Zealand Law Society have opposed him being granted a practising certificate which triggered today’s hearing in Auckland.
The scheme that got him struck off in the first place saw McConnor orchestrate a complex property conspiracy where after his client signed a deal to sell a property in Auckland on Anzac Avenue for $1.1 million they received a higher offer from an overseas buyer by $122,000.
The vendor tried to cancel the contract, even offering the initial purchaser $30,000 to walk away, but they refused and lodged a caveat on the property to protect his interest in it.
Dorbu then arranged for his client to sell all of its shares to a third party which was intended to void the sale and purchase agreement because the property in question was his client’s only asset.
He also tried to claim that the realtor who signed the agreement acted without authority.
Dorbu then attempted to transfer the mortgage on the property in an attempt to defeat the caveat the purchaser had put on it and ultimately undermine him so his client could accept the higher offer.
Dorbu acted for five parties in the deal including both the purchaser and the vendor in the transaction.
The initial purchaser told the courts in subsequent litigation that he had suffered a nearly $300,000 loss in legal costs fighting the conspiracy which went to the High Court and the Court of Appeal with the latter describing the case as a “spiders web” of “contrived machinations” to defeat the purchaser’s rights to the property.
The Lawyer’s and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal opted to strike Dorbu from the roll of barristers and solicitors after finding him guilty of 12 charges of misconduct for his involvement in the unlawful conspiracy.
“In retrospect, it was so stupid,” McConnor told that same tribunal he attempted to convince them he’s fit to practise again.
“What I did was horrible…it doesn’t reflect well on me or on the profession.
“I bought this on my family and myself and I paid a heavy price.”
McConnor, who has been working as a car groomer in recent years, told the tribunal he was more mature and more capable now and would never make similar errors as he made leading to his strike-off.
He also claimed he had learned from his mistakes and was no longer a risk to the public.
If allowed to practise as a lawyer again he wants to work as a duty solicitor and aim to “start low” back in the profession before possibly moving into immigration law.
“I have to flexible her because I’m on the back foot and I’ll be lucky if I’m allowed back in.”
McConnor also claimed he’d had a spiritual awakening in 2015 which he told the tribunal was a way to way manage the “trauma” and shame of being struck off.
He also changed his name from John Dorbu to James McConnor in 2018 and when questioned about why he said the name “just came to him”.
Counsel for the Standards Committee opposing McConnor’s application on behalf of the Law Society, Paul Collins, said the primary issue was that McConnor wanted to practise alone with no oversight from any employer.
Collins said McConnor still hedged a lot when it came to owning up to his previous offending.
“The application falls short by a significant margin and was significantly underprepared, and prepared with some ignorance,” he said.
McConnor is currently suing Auckland Transport and debt collection agency Baycorp over a $150 traffic ticket for driving through a bus lane.
It was Collins’ submission that for someone of McConnor’s education and intelligence, it was a waste of his time and showed a “monumental lack of judgement and echo of what occurred 20 years ago.”
“There’s a lot to be concerned about,” Collins said.
The tribunal will issue its decision about allowing McConnor back into the fold in writing at a later date.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
