A lawyer who used $50,000 of a client's money to pay his own fees has been struck off.
Christopher Giddens, who now lives in Australia, admitted the charge, in which he held the money in his trust account and then used it to pay his fees.
He was ordered to
be removed from the Roll of Barristers and pay costs of almost $10,000 by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal yesterday.
The tribunal found his actions constituted a "very serious form of misconduct".
Mr Giddens held the money, proceeds of a property by an estate he acted for, and of which he was one of the trustees, in his trust account.
