BARRISTER SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7264, 21 October 1910, Page 1

BARRISTER SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE

i * 1 EIRE FOLLOWS BANKRUPTCY I CASE OF J. J. PATTERSON, OF. DANNEYIRKE. MISSING ACCOUNT BOOKS. The suspension of John .fames Patterson, barrister and solicitor, of Danne-' virko, was ordered yesterday by the' Court of Appeal. This was-the outcome', of an application made by the Hawke'sj Bay District Law Society to have Patter-i son's name struck off the roll. A rule nisi having been granted by tie Supreme Court in September, 1909, Mi 1 A.) Gray, on behalf of the Law Society, ap-, peared on Wednesday last and made a-p-. plication to the Court of Appeal that the; rule should be made absolute. Mr C.j P. Skerrett, K.C., with him Mr 11. F.j Johnston, appeared for Patterson, to show cause. The ease came before tiro Ohief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), Justices' Williams, Edwards, Cooper, and Cliap-| man. It was pointed out during' the course of argument that-Patterson, who was in-1 terteted in sawuiiliiiig and storekeeping] businesses, was adjudicated bankrupt by! the District Court on his own petition ini August, 19US. Subsequently, a fire oc-i our red in Ins office, destroying a numbef| of papers, and at the Napier criminal j se-ssioms- on June 22nd of last year he was tried and found guilty upon a cliai-go ofhaving failed to keep proper books, having failed to deliver up to the Official| Assignee all books and documents relat-i i»g to Iris businesses, and baring mutilated books relating to his affairs by removing pages therefrom. A general ver-l diet of "Guilty" was returned by the j ury, and Mr Justice Chapman sentenced; Patterson to two months' imprisonmenti without ha<r.d labour. '! In August last, when Mr Justice Chap-i maai had before liiui the application fori a rule absolute, he referred the case toi the Court of Appeal. ' In this way the proceedings readied the higher court oH| Wednesday of this week, and judgment was given, yesterday. , i The court intimated that, after care-1 fut consideration, it had been decided| that Patterson-should bo suspended from, practice an a {solicitor for a period of twoj years. Permission would be given liim.i however, to apply, six s months hence,; for the removal of the susprtmsion, if he) could give.a satisfactory explanation, regarding his books. He would be re-i quired to pay the costs of the . inle,, fifteen guineas, with the usual disburse-1 ments. •■■-■•'■ ■'.- ■