Re Daley

This matter concerned an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court from a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The applicant, a solicitor, had been suspended from practice by the Supreme Court for eighteen months due to professional misconduct. The misconduct involved making a false representation to a barrister to induce them to accept a brief, which the barrister would not have otherwise accepted.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to deal with the solicitor's conduct and whether the Court's conclusion on the facts and the resulting punishment were appropriate. The applicant argued that the Supreme Court had erred in its factual findings and that the conduct did not constitute professional misconduct warranting disciplinary action.

The High Court affirmed the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to discipline its officers for misconduct. The Court found that the solicitor's representation, which the Supreme Court had found to be false, was "as nearly fraudulent in its essence as one can well conceive." Citing its previous decision in *In re Coleman*, the High Court held that the nature of the punishment for professional misconduct is entirely within the discretion of the Supreme Court. Consequently, the High Court saw no reason to differ from the Supreme Court's conclusion on the facts or its decision regarding the punishment.

Special leave to appeal was refused.