Solicitor 'can continue practicing' pending appeal
January 02, 2008
A disgraced Australian solicitor - who is imprisoned following a conviction for fraud -continues to provide legal advice.
Leon Nikolaidis, who was found to have made a forged copy of a £40,000 costs receipt, has been granted a stay against being struck off by the national Law Society, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The lawyer was prosecuted earlier this year by the regulator and was found guilty of the charges in August by a Sydney court.
However, he was bailed in November following the emergence of "fresh evidence" which is to be used by Mr Nikolaidis when he appeals his two-year sentence.
The allegedly negligent solicitor is the sole practitioner in his firm - which will be allowed to continue trading under the terms of the stay.
Under the ruling, granted by Australian Supreme Court Justice Cliff Hoeben, Mr Nikolaidis will be allowed to continue practicing for three months.
The solicitor's appeal is to be heard in March.