LOST IN EARTHQUAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 163, 13 July 1931, Page 3

LOST IN EARTHQUAKE.

MONEY IN LAWYER'S SAFE.

EXPLANATION TO COURT. ALLEGED FAILURE TO ACCOUNT.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, this day

Allegations made by the Law Society that Walter Hislop, barrister and solicitor, of Napier, failed to account to a client for a certain sum of money, and that he had failed to keep trust moneys in a proper trust account, came before the Court of Appeal this morning. The. Court consisted of the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, and Justices Herdman, MacGregor and Kennedy.

Mr. E. P. Hay, counsel for Hislop, said that prima facie it might appear an offence had been committed, but the actual circumstances disclosed a complete absence of dishonesty on Hislop's part. He received a sum of money 011 behalf of a woman client 011 the discharge of a mortgage under which she was the mortgagee, and he banked that money in his trust account between December 17, 1930, and February L>, 1901. He did not bank again, and during that time drew against the said sum cheques in favour of other clients, holding in his ollice unbanked money suilicient to cover the cheques paid out. When the earthquake came the sum 01 £500 was in the otiice, and that was destroyed. Accordingly, he was unable to pay to his client "in full the amount which he received on her behalf.

The Court intimated that the facts before it were not suilicient to enable it to deal with the explanation of the practitioner, and gave Mr. Hay the option of taking an adjournment to Friday, to enable him to adduce further facts." This was acccpted, and the Court adjourned.