Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Sharp

The Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales applied to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for orders striking the respondent, Mr Sharp, from the Local Roll of lawyers. The application concerned Mr Sharp's conduct between 8 December 1995 and 28 November 1996, for which he had pleaded guilty in the District Court of New South Wales to thirty-nine indictable offences.

The Court was required to determine whether Mr Sharp's convictions constituted professional misconduct, whether he was a person of good fame and character, and consequently, whether he was a fit and proper person to remain on the Local Roll. The offences for which Mr Sharp was convicted included sixteen counts of knowingly and dishonestly making improper use of his position as a company officer, contrary to sections 232(6) and 1317FA of the Corporations Law, and twenty-three counts of making a false or misleading statement with intent to obtain a valuable thing, contrary to section 178BB of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).

The Court declared that Mr Sharp had been guilty of professional misconduct by reason of his convictions for the aforementioned offences. It further declared that Mr Sharp was not a person of good fame and character and was not a fit and proper person to remain on the Local Roll of lawyers. Accordingly, the Court ordered that Mr Sharp's name be removed from the Local Roll.