High-profile lawyer accused of pressuring former client to withdraw complaint to regulator

WARNING: This article contains offensive language.

A prominent Melbourne lawyer, who represented underworld figure Mick Gatto and champion jockey Danny Nikolic, has been accused of pressuring a former client to withdraw her complaint to the legal industry regulator.

Hazel Brown told The Age that Pat Lennon gave her a handwritten letter she was asked to copy, sign and send to the Legal Services Commissioner to recant her original complaint of misconduct against him.

Pat Lennon pictured in 2016.Credit: Jesse Marlow

Brown had been embroiled in a dispute with Lennon after borrowing about $20,000 from Argyle Lending – owned by Lennon’s wife, Jane – in 2016 and paying 20 per cent interest on the loan for the first year and 23 year per cent for each following year.

When the debt spiralled beyond $200,000, Lennon placed caveats on two properties owned by Brown in Caulfield, in Melbourne’s south-east, and Tasmania.

Brown claims Lennon is now living in one of her former properties on Hawthorn Road, in Caulfield, after placing the caveat on it.

Emails reveal Brown repeatedly asked Jane Lennon for “true loan agreements” in 2020 to which Pat Lennon replied: “Stop messaging my wife u f---ing c---. She doesn’t want anything to do with you ffs, how many times have I told you?”

An extract of a handwritten letter lawyer Pat Lennon allegedly gave to former client Hazel Brown.

Brown said Lennon gave her the document to withdraw her complaint in July last year after receiving a series of text messages from him.

“I have done this thing – sensitive about how I get it to u,” Lennon said in a text message on July 24.

The four-page letter written by Lennon said: “I have resolved my differences with Pat Lennon and his wife and Argyle Lending. I have no issues with them and I do not authorise you nor anyone else to publish any information about my interactions with them. On the contrary, I expressly disagree to any material about me or my issues with Pat Lennon being used in any way.”

Hazel Brown says Pat Lennon wrote a letter for her to sign in which she recants her misconduct claim.

In a separate email on July 21, Lennon had said he would “draft letters for Hazel’s consideration as requested regarding securing property for herself and her son”.

He said in the same email: “I will meet with Hazel to discuss matters in assistance with the Legal Services Commission and witness statements.”

Brown accused Lennon of physically, financially and emotionally threatening her for years.

“I have been subjected to ongoing bullying, threats and intimidation both physically, financially and emotionally to suppress any complaints I have made to the Legal Services Commissioner and corporate regulators,” Brown said.

She urged the Legal Services Commissioner to investigate Lennon, who has been the subject of several complaints over the past two years.

“I find it difficult to respect our legal system when there is evidently very little regulatory control over its licensed practitioners,” Brown said.

Lennon did not respond to questions from The Age, other than to say “Ur funny” in an email.

The 59-year-old is separately facing possession and trafficking charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, along with bankruptcy proceedings in the Federal Court brought by two barristers who claim to be owed $54,000 in unpaid fees.

In 2020, Lennon was allegedly found with 11 grams of methamphetamine and almost $6000 cash inside a leather shoulder bag during a random car intercept in South Yarra. He plans to contest the charges at a two-day hearing in May.

In November last year, Lennon was attacked during the lunch break of a court hearing he was involved in, according to a barrister representing him.

He allegedly sustained a broken jaw in the daylight attack outside his office on Queen Street, while appealing a Magistrates’ Court costs order, and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Legal Services Commissioner Fiona McLeay confirmed that Lennon and his wife were the subject of an ongoing investigation and issued an appeal for information from the public.

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