GILLIES COMES A CRASH

NZ Truth, Issue 1096, 2 December 1926, Page 5

GILLIES COMES A CRASH

Lawyer Who Was Lax In • Legal Requirements A MUDDLED STATE OF AFFAIRS (Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) U. An inefficient office, a muddled practice and failure to have his trust account audited caused the downfall of John Munro Gillies, solicitor of Dunedin.

HN November 10 Gillies was suspended from' practice by Judge Sim m the Dunedin Supreme Court on the application of the Otago Law Society on the grounds that he had been guilty of professional misconduct m his capacity as a solicitor. On behalf^ of the respondent, Lawyer C. J. L. White put forward that Gillies had been m ill-health and had been absent from his office for some time, and had been 1 unable to concentrate on the highly involved details and muddled affairs of his practice. The extent to which matters had become involved was revealed at the hearing at the Dunedjn Magistrate's Court, when Gillies was charged with having failed to have his trust account audited by a qualified accountant.

XTntil his suspension Gillies had been m practice, m Dunedin for two- years, during which period 'several sums of money had passed through his hands. For the first year his trust account had been duly audited.Tn the investigation by the accountnnts appointed by the Law Society, one of the most serious discoveries was that subsequent to March, 1925, cheques received had not been entered -m the cash book. / ' 111 Health In fact there appeared to be no proper system m operation to record moneys received .from time to time. No authentic record of money received was available, and it was impossible to say what the true position was. During this latter period. Gillies was absent from his office. 111-health was said to have caused this. The supervision of the office was left m the s hands of a. clerk named Patrick. According to Lawyer Adams, a certificate of audit for the present . year was due from Gillies' office on August 1. Several later communications' had been forwarded to his office from the Crown Law Office drawing attention to his failure to send m his audit certificate. On September 14 a letter was sent by W. D. Patrick, Gillies' chief clerk, to the Crown Law Office, stating: "I am m receipt of your letter re the audit! Gillies has been away from the office sick for some time, and the writer has been carrying on for him. Although Gillies was seen each day, no men-' tion of the audit was made, and until, the . letter was received the writer was under the impression that the audit was done. The auditor has been instructed, and I ex- , pect to have the certificate to hand at the end of. the week.** The reply was signed "J. M. Gillies, perW. D. PatricK."

- i It was pointed out by Lawyer Adams that the letter received by tlie Crown Law Office stated that the auditor had been instructed, but it was a fact that no auditor had been instructed at that time. No certificate had been received up to September 28, and consequent on complaints having been received^ the Law Society took action and investigating accountants .were appointed. "The most serioUs aspect of this particular case is that the investigation v and audit, when finally made, may reveal a deficiency of £570," said Lawyer Adams. Serious He did not know how far Gillies may have been aware of what was happening. The failure to forward his audit account was one breach, but a fni'.Vinv o a y i n 11 a

: breach was that there seemed to have been no attemjn to keep the accounts. In fact, Gillies' affairs had been allowed .to slide' into a hopeless muddle. There was no record of cheques received, yet m the

audit it ,was shown that there was a deficiency of £57Q. •This was put down to muddle and the> lack of a sysem of' recording moneys, but it is a strange muddle when a large sum of money cannot be accounted for. On behalf of Gillies, C. J. ;L. White said that m February of /this year Gillies had taken ill and had been absent from his practice right up to the time of the action taken by the Law Society. ( "His books from the start seem to have been m a very unsatisfactory .position .owing*, to. 'his lack of knowledge of book-keeping. v "After his leaving the office things became m an absolutely hopeless muddle and continued so. The muddle became worse and worse." "The defendant pleads- guilty, and from the report of the accountants it is quite cl^ar that great carelessness and lack of attention- wei;e shown," said Magistrate Bundle, who inflicted a penalty of, £60. •