Judge quashes legal suspension of gangland lawyer Sarah Tricarico
A judge has quashed the legal suspension of gangland lawyer Sarah Tricarico, paving the way for her to represent bailed drug boss Tony Mokbel in his upcoming appeal.
Police & Courts
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A judge has quashed the legal suspension of gangland lawyer Sarah Tricarico, paving the way for her to represent bailed drug boss Tony Mokbel in his upcoming appeal.
Ms Tricarico had her legal practising certificate suspended without notice by the Legal Services Board on March 14, a day after it was advised by Victoria Police she had been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
On Wednesday, Supreme Court justice Peter Gray quashed the suspension after finding the Board’s decision was procedurally unfair because it failed to provide Ms Tricarico with advance notice and an opportunity to respond before suspending her certificate.
The judge also found the decision was legally unreasonable because it lacked a sufficient basis for immediate suspension and did not consider alternative options, such as imposing conditions on Ms Tricarico’s practice.
“I am satisfied that the outcome might have been different if the delegate had given Ms Tricarico notice and opportunity to persuade him against an immediate suspension,” he said in his written reasons.
“That might have affected the outcome, resulting in a variation rather than suspension of her practising certificate.”
The decision means Ms Tricarico can continue to act for Tony Mokbel in his upcoming appeal against his drug convictions over the Lawyer X scandal.
Justice Gray had earlier ordered Ms Tricarico be allowed to continue working under supervision with current clients, on the condition she did not take on new cases.
Ms Tricarico was charged after she allegedly instructed her co-accused Youssef Raffoul to remotely delete the contents of a mobile phone she believed another man had been using before his arrest in February 2019.
She will return to court to face that charge in June.
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