Lawyer Michael William Kemp fails in bid to keep striking off from profession a secret
A former high flying Brisbane lawyer has failed in his bid to keep his kicking out of the legal profession a secret.
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A former high flying Brisbane personal injury lawyer with a taste for flash cars and luxury homes has failed in his bid to keep his kicking out of the legal profession a secret.
Michael William Kemp’s former Brisbane legal practice Kemp Law collapsed in 2021 owing $8.15m.
In May 2021 the now 45-year-old was bankrupted with personal debts of $7.2m and he was discharged from bankruptcy in June last year.
In a decision handed down by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal on July 3, member Justice Paul Freeburn declined to suppress the details of his decision to order Kemp be removed from the Queensland roll of solicitors for misconduct.
Kemp, who previously drove a Lamborghini and owned a $10m property portfolio, argued he should be given a “private reprimand” and have details of his misconduct suppressed by QCAT.
He submitted that he had mental health issues that were triggered by the stress of the collapse of Kemp Law and his bankruptcy, and told his psychotherapist that his downfall had been “shamelessly exploited in the media”.
He told QCAT he had already been “punished and shamed” and had voluntarily admitted himself for a seven day stay at the Salt Recovery House rehab centre in the Gold Coast hinterland in October 2023.
But in refusing to grant a suppression order Justice Freeburn stated that “the medical/health evidence” Kemp, from Hope Island, filed in QCAT was “rather thin and dated”.
On 17 June 2021 the Queensland Law Society met and resolved that Mr Kemp was no longer a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate. Mr Kemp’s practising certificate was cancelled with effect from 22 June 2021. That cancellation meant that Mr Kemp was no longer an Australian legal practitioner as defined in s 6(1) of the LPA and was prohibited from representing or advertising that he was entitled to engage in legal practice.
Before he set up his own firm, Kemp was a partner of Rostron Carlyle, and in 2012 he bought the Mt Nebo home of pornographic website master Scott Phillips which boasted a sci-fi eye scanner to at the front door.
Justice Freeburn ruled that a public reprimand was appropriate given that Kemp, who has been a lawyer since 2004, was in strife for “continuing to market his firm to the public in social media after his practising certificate was cancelled”.
He said that the legal industry regulator, the Queensland Law Society (QLS), was forced to take legal action against Kemp to stop him from advertising legal services on his Kemp Help website, on a Facebook page, LinkedIn posts and Instagram in 2021.
Kemp posted the ads despite having his practising certificate cancelled on June 22, 2021.
“No Win, No Fee, No Risk”, his website stated, accompanied by “Kemp Help clients successfully resolve 99% of claims” and “you pay nothing unless you win”.
“Kemp flagrantly demonstrated a lack of respect for the lawful actions of the QLS – a regulator of the profession. He continued over months to hold himself out as entitled to practice, when he was not permitted to do so,” Justice Freeburn wrote.
In September 2021 the Supreme Court banned Kemp from holding himself out as entitled to practice.
Kemp was also found guilty of professional misconduct for failing to pay compulsory superannuation contributions to six former employees of Kemp Law and/or its successor firm Highland Law.
Kemp was also ordered to pay $7500 to his former staffer at Kemp Law and Highland Law, Tran Duy Trong, after she was out of pocket to the tune of $15,319 in unpaid superannuation.
Originally published as Lawyer Michael William Kemp fails in bid to keep striking off from profession a secret
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