Adelaide ‘sex pest’ accused barrister sparks lawyer outrage over ‘lack of open justice’

A rising star Adelaide lawyer accused of sexual misconduct against a junior female colleague has sparked widespread legal industry fury over his case’s draconian secrecy.

The barrister cannot be named for legal reasons. He denies wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. Picture: iStock

A rising star Adelaide lawyer accused of sexual misconduct against a junior female colleague has sparked widespread legal industry fury over his case’s draconian secrecy.

The married barrister, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly made “inappropriate and uninvited physical and sexual contact … or advances” to a junior solicitor in mid-2020.

The male lawyer, a father, disputes Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner professional misconduct charges, laid in 2022, over claims the watchdog wrongly launched the case.

Three senior justices – including the state’s top judge – last week invoked temporary secrecy orders, described as a “quasi-suppression”, and published an anonymised judgment.

The case has been returned to a disciplinary tribunal to rule on the allegations after SA’s appeal court overturned a technical dismissal ruling.

The accused lawyer denies wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes.

But parts of the legal profession, including the Women’s Lawyers’ Association, are in uproar over claims the justice system, and the industry’s professional association, were ignoring equality and openness.

Frances Nelson, KC, for Commissioner Anthony Keane, told the Court of Appeal that her client believed the disciplinary matter “should be subject to public scrutiny and transparency”.

The Law Society’s governing council on Monday night heard current secrecy rules were in dispute and agreed to develop rules around the identifying of accused lawyers but no formal position was reached.

The court heard while there were no suppression orders an interim order under “uniform civil” rules were in force. Hearing records are also secret pending a new court decision.

Law Society president Alex Lazarevich told the court “we don’t oppose an order” for anonymity.

Hannah Doyle, for the practitioner, said naming her client would “impact” his mental health.

In a 45-page judgment, released after The Advertiser’s inquiries, Supreme Court Justice Laura Stein, with Chief Justice Chris Kourakis and Justice Chris Bleby, briefly outlined the allegations.

Court documents show former Commissioner Greg May received a complaint about the lawyer in July 2020 but didn’t lay “professional misconduct” charges the day before his appointment expired two years later.

He wrote to the accused, identified only as a “practitioner”, the next month outling the serious nature of the complaint, conflicting accounts on the evidence and he was unable to resolve the dispute without a tribunal hearing.

In October 2022, Mr Keane laid a charge in the tribunal against the practitioner “alleging professional misconduct”, the court said, but the lawyer asserted he had no “proper basis”.

“The charge related to alleged inappropriate and uninvited physical and sexual contact with, or advances to, a female solicitor colleague, junior in age and position to the practitioner,” the judgment stated.

No further details can be published.

In December 2022, the lawyer applied to have the orders dismissed, which the tribunal upheld in March this year because Mr Keane “did not undertake any independent evaluation of the evidence”.

The three judges ruled the tribunal made an “erroneous conclusion” and set aside its dismissal.

In a statement last night, Mr Lazarevich said the society “understands that the court is considering competing arguments from parties” and will then make a decision but would not comment further.

The barrister, his lawyer, a spokesman for the complainant and the Women’s Lawyers Association all declined to comment last night.