QLS president Christine Smyth

Gold Coast residents desperate for legal advice are being warned against hiring arm chair experts advertising on the internet

Queensland Law Society president Christine Smyth is warning consumers about fraudsters who present themselves as lawyers. GOLD Coast residents desperate for legal help are being warned about taking advice from an increasing number of fraudsters and arm chair experts posing as lawyers on the internet. Queensland Law Society president Christine Smyth has issued the warning after lawyers became increasingly concerned […]

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Morcombe killer’s lawyer guilty of fraud

The Queensland corruption watchdog is investigating suspected criminal activity in the state’s legal profession after the solicitor who defended Daniel Morcombe’s killer pleaded guilty to nine fraud charges. Tim Meehan is in custody after pleading guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to the charges, which stem from the dishonest application of monies in excess of $30,000 belonging to […]

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Former high-profile solicitor Tim Meehan has pleaded guilty to fraud

Morcombe killer’s lawyer Tim Meehan pleads guilty to more than $30k fraud, falsifying invoices in Brisbane court

Brisbane criminal solicitor Tim Meehan, who represented Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Peter Cowan, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in Queensland’s Supreme Court and has been remanded in custody. The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) said in a statement that Timothy Vincent Charles Meehan, 41, had pleaded guilty in court to one count of aggravated fraud and eight counts of […]

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Former high-profile solicitor Tim Meehan has pleaded guilty to fraud

Former high-profile solicitor Tim Meehan has pleaded guilty to fraud

FORMER high-profile solicitor Tim Meehan has been remanded in custody after today pleading guilty to fraud. In a sensational development in the Brisbane Supreme Court, an ex officio indictment was presented for one count of fraud to the value of more than $30,000, and eight counts of fraudulently falsifying a record. Meehan, who represented Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Peter Cowan, […]

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Australian Tax Institute Journal: Bankruptcy – protecting death benefits and insurance

by Christine Smyth, TEP, and Katerina Peiros, ATI, Hartwell Legal,  Mercies of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and Life Insurance Act 1995 that should be wider known and utilised. Personal bankruptcy results when an individual is unable to pay his or her debts as and when they fall due and payable.1 Notably, the test is not whether the debts exceed an individual’s assets, it is […]

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Christine Smyth

‘Dodgy’ legal advice concerns on the horizon

A state legal body has issued a warning following a growing number of individuals expressing that they have been duped by unqualified fraudsters posing as lawyers. Queensland Law Society president Christine Smyth said there is growing concern in the profession that people are being taken advantage of when being offered “cheap’’ or “free” advice via the internet or from “lay […]

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