Auckland lawyer Bohsoon Kang has been fined $5,000 by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal after a finding of unsatisfactory conduct.

Mr Kang has also been ordered to pay the New Zealand Law Society’s total costs of $16,299.20 and to undertake a Trust Account Supervisor Refresher Course as soon as practicable and within the next 12 months.

New Zealand Law Society reviews of Mr Kang’s firm’s trust account in 2008, 2012 and 2016 identified breaches of the Act and Regulations and he was required to remedy the shortcomings in his trust account practices. A further inspection in 2017 identified a number of deficiencies in his trust accounting records and practices.

These included issues with monthly reconciliations and account imbalances, failures to report to clients and failures to address unpresented cheques.

The Tribunal noted that Mr Kang had admitted under cross-examination that he was not familiar with the trust accounting regulations at the time and was in need of good familiarisation. He had accepted that he did not focus on the requirements seriously enough and had now realised the extent of his obligations.