The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has ordered that former lawyer Helen Holland's name be struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors, following serious breaches of fiduciary duties.

Ms Holland had practised as a lawyer for 35 years. For the previous five years she had not held a practising certificate. She had been found guilty of misconduct stemming from breaches of fiduciary duties to her siblings in her management of her parents' estates and affairs. The Tribunal found she had made loans of at least $415,000 to herself and her sister from her father's estate. In its liability decision the Tribunal recorded its finding that "[o]ver a period of many years, she ignored clear fiduciary duties, promoted her own interests and, when called to account, she has been avoidant, obstructive, and plainly irrational".

For penalty, the Tribunal considered an absence of remorse and an ongoing failure to account were aggravating features. Mitigating the conduct was Ms Holland's long career that had not been marked by disciplinary complaints other than an earlier failure to comply with a notice to produce documents connected with the same matter. Ms Holland's health challenges, including her currently deteriorating health provided further mitigation.

The Tribunal felt unable to consider Ms Holland's conduct as a "one-off" as it had persisted for many years. She had still failed to account for transactions. The Tribunal considered whether it could treat Ms Holland's conduct as situational, such that it would not be repeated and that she did not pose a risk to the public. It felt unable to do so given that her misconduct exhibited "serious shortcomings in characteristics that the public expect in lawyers". Combined with an absence of insight or remorse, it demonstrated a significant lack of judgement to the extent that she would be unsafe to practise.

The Tribunal recorded that it would "very much like to find a path whereby Ms Holland could be brought back to safe practice" but on the evidence before it was not able to do so. With "considerable sorrow" the Tribunal ordered strike off. Medical reports tendered were permanently suppressed.

Read the decision on the Tribunal’s website