Mahvash Ikram
A lawyer who “foolishly” gave her employer a fake obituary to justify taking bereavement leave has been censured and ordered to pay more than $9000 in costs but avoided being fined for her conduct.
Kelly Anne Jamieson was estranged from her family when she discovered they had deliberately not told her about the death of her sister-in-law two years previously, the Lawyers & Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal said in a written decision released on Wednesday.
Horrified at the news and in a state of distress, she took time off from work but did not tell her employer how much time had elapsed since her sister-in-law’s death because she was ashamed about the situation she found herself in, the tribunal said.
When her law firm pressed her for more details, Jamieson “foolishly chose to ‘double down’, as described by her counsel, and created a false obituary which she gave to her employers. about her absence”.
The deception was quickly uncovered and Jamieson immediately admitted lying when questioned. Her firm complained to the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS), Jamieson resigned, reported herself to the NZLS, and sought professional help to try to understand her actions.
She has not worked as a lawyer since, surviving on a sickness benefit.
Conduct ‘deserves denunciation’
The tribunal said Jamieson should have explained the situation regarding her sister-in-law’s death to her employers and asked for some time to process what she had learned.
The Auckland Legal Standards Committee 1, which brought the charges, sought a “modest” fine, but the tribunal found a censure was sufficient punishment.
“The conduct deserves denunciation, which is delivered in the form of the censure… but that it does not require a burdensome financial penalty in order to deter others from similar conduct,” it said.
The tribunal took into account her clean record over 20 years, the fact that she reported herself, her insight in seeking professional help, and cooperation with the disciplinary proceedings.
It said it was taking a rehabilitative approach and Jamieson should be encouraged to return to the profession. It noted “no question of competence has been raised”, the behaviour was out of character, and no client was harmed by the dishonesty.
However, the tribunal found the profession should not bear the cost proceedings and ordered Jamieson to pay $6800 to cover 75% of the standards committee’s costs, as well as just over $2400 in tribunal costs. The decision will also go to the NZLS Practice Approval Committee if she applies for a practising certificate in the future.
Her censure read: “[A] lawyer’s integrity is a precious commodity … You briefly slipped below the required standard when you misled your employer about your absence from work. This censure serves as a permanent reminder on your professional record of that error, which we are confident you will not repeat.”
A copy of the decision is available here.
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