Tim Ticker, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW Case Study - Law Assignment Help

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Tim Ticker, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW, had been admitted since February 1990. He was a sole practitioner and considered himself somewhat of an expert in advocacy – he had appeared in Local Court and District Court matters for some years. As for the ‘paper’ side of practice, he would frankly admit to being a bit of a novice – he’d once done a conveyance and a lease of a shop down the road.Ticker was good on his feet and in talking to people – he was happy to explain the law as long as it involved litigation or negotiation – he was good at resolving disputes, of any kind. For anything else, he was happy to refer people to other Solicitors.Ticker was happy with the way he practised law and there were a number of clients and former clients who would vouch for his skill and integrity.One day, on his way to Court, Ticker’s car was involved in a substantial accident with a truck. Ticker’s right leg and arm, as well as a number of ribs were crushed by the impact. There was hospitalisation and subsequent rehabilitation but the ongoing pain was quite severe. Ticker found it hard to concentrate in Court, was unable to stand for periods of time and, generally, found his range of movement diminished. More and more he found himself relying on painkillers and sedatives for sleep.Ticker had prided himself on his uptake of facts and application of the law to them – many had commented that he should have gone to the Bar but Ticker wanted nothing to do with that type of practice – he wanted to meet the little man from the pub, take instructions and, as he would often say, “go to bat for them”. Notwithstanding the accident and what ensued, he still thought that he ‘had it’. Within three months he was back in Court although obviously at a reduced level – he had said to himself that he would ‘build up’ to his old work load.To the impartial observer, Ticker had problems – he walked with a noticeable limp and his arm drooped. Some said that he sometimes looked sleepy. Ticker was forever the optimist, he saw no long-term effects, just obstacles to overcom.

With his physical ailments, Ticker took on less work (he would be back at full throttle before long he would say to himself!) and made sure that he gave his body a chance to recover – maybe a bit more office work which, although he did not like, would pay the bills – there was the rent, professional indemnity insurance, practising certificate etc. – he had to make a living, after all he had a family to support.First thing on Monday Jane Smith came into Ticker’s office – a friend of hers had recommended him to her. She had a couple of problems – she had been arrested the previous weekend for having participated in an unauthorised demonstration and for having assaulted a police officer when arrested. At the same time, Jane had, a few days before the demonstration, put a holding deposit on a new apartment and notwithstanding her present problems, wanted to proceed with the purchase. She was desperate to exchange - the purchase price was $1.5m - and had brought a bank cheque with her for $150,000 made payable to Ticker’s firm – “that’s how it works, isn’t it? You’ll look after everything?”Ticker was more interested in the criminal charges than the conveyance – he had always thought that the State’s assembly provisions weren’t enforceable and the ‘assault’ charge was the usual ‘back-up’ charge. Ticker was keen to test the law.The conveyance would be tricky – there were all these new provisions relating to e-conveyancing, he’d have a lot of catching up to do. In the meantime, he had a look at the contact Jane had with her – there was nothing unusual about its terms so he would place the deposit moneys into his trust account and start the ball rolling – what he didn’t know he could ask his friends.

The following week the contracts on Jane’s purchase were exchanged and Ticker paid over the deposit funds. He then told Jane that he would need funds for searches/enquiries etc and as a result Jane gave him $5,000 in cash – whatever was left over could go towards Ticker’s costs. Ticker placed the moneys into his trust account.The criminal proceedings came on for hearing unexpectedly quick – even before settlement of Jane’s purchase – and Ticker was forced to put a lot of work into preparation and the ultimate hearing. He worked on the case almost full-time for a week – he could not attend to any other work. Ticker asked Jane for a $15,000 ‘up-front’ for the criminal proceedings and this she paid without demur. It was not a good time forTicker, the pain in his leg had become unbearable and he needed increased painkillers as well as sedatives to sleep. He knew that he wasn’t thinking straight but he was determined to push through. Not only for Jane’s sake but because he needed the money.The trial in the District Court was set down for three days and, frankly, Ticker was making a good tussle of it – the Crown had even approached him trying to get his client to accept a lesser charge so as to avoid what was increasingly looking like a worrying precedent for the authorities. Jane was adamant, whatever one’s position, she had the right to demonstrate and the assault, that was a joke, she had just pushed away from the police officer – “tell them to get lost”, “it’s about the principle”, “I’m not going to cut any deal”.

Things had gone even better than Ticker had expected and his Honour retired – he would publish his judgment in fourteen days. There was much back-slapping from other members of the profession in Court and Jane was absolutely thrilled. “We’ll show them!”.In the interim the conveyance was proceeding well and was due to settle three weeks after judgment – “it will be a double celebration” Ticker told Jane.Fourteen days later judgment was handed down. One could have knocked Ticker over with a feather – his Honour had found the charges proven on the basis of various technicalities and subsequently indicated that he would adjourn the matter for ten days when he would hear submissions on penalty.Saying that Ticker was deflated would be an understatement. Ticker and Jane went back to his office and closely read his Honour’s judgment. It was clear that his Honour had misunderstood the legislation. Although he thought it was going to be a relatively easy task for a good appellate Counsel to convince an appeal court, it would take time and money.As for the conveyance, that was, relatively speaking, under control – the bank had organised the mortgage funds and Jane would provide some additional money. Of the $1,350,000 payable, the Bank would be providing $1,300,000 with the balance comingfrom Jane. Stamp Duty was normally payable by settlement time but that was being deferred under the State Government’s covid support scheme.Jane came in the next day and left a cheque made payable to Ticker’s trust account. The cheque was for $155,000 - $50,000 was for the balance of the purchase money, $5,000 for the balance of his fees and $100,000 for the stamp duty. Ticker had forgotten to tell Jane of the stamp duty deferral – he would bank the cheque and talk to her later about what she wanted to do with the stamp duty money.

The appeal was lodged and the Court expedited the hearing – at the request of both parties sentencing was adjourned until after judgment in the appeal. There was much interest in the legislation and everyone was keen to get a final judicial view on it as there were many cases waiting in the wingsIn parallel the conveyance completed and Ticker gave Jane her keys. However, Ticker still had the $100,000 for the stamp duty and told Jane what had happened – did she want him to pay the money back into her account - “Look, I don’t need it now, just keep it for a while. I may just pay the duty up-front or do something else. There’s no real interest in the bank, so just keep it.”A month later the appeal was heard. Giddy SC for Jane was superb. By lunch the appeal judges said that they would retire and hand down a decision in a few hours – everyone knew what that meant – game over! Indeed, by 2pm the presiding judge was giving an ex tempore judgment in which the Court found that the legislation was unconstitutional and, in any event, so imprecise as to be void – judgment for the Appellant with costs (including of the initial proceedings)! It was fair to say that a few glasses were subsequently had in Giddy’s chambers.

After a terrible few months Ticker thought he could see the sun rising – he still had it, he thought.Now came time to do the bills. The conveyance was finalised and paid for; $100,000 was in the trust account after the deferral of stamp duty; there was a further $15,000 in trust for the appeal and Giddy’s fee note had arrived in the sum of $10,000, which Tickerthought was very fair. There were then going to be his fees (only of the appeal – he had been paid for the initial proceedings) which he assessed at another $15,000. So, summarising, Jane would need to pay a further $10,000 and then would seek to recover her party/party costs from the Crown. Next day, still ecstatic over her victory, Jane brought in the balance of the funds.It was as though a weight had been lifted from Ticker’s shoulders. He thought he could handle more Court work – he could get back to the work he dearly loved.What was not foremost in Ticker’s mind was the fact that the last six months had been financially hard on him and one evening his wife said that she had been doing the books (Shirl always did the financials, Ticker was, on his own admission, useless with budgets and figures). They were substantially in debt she said; the rent was in arrears by two months and there were a number of professional and personal creditors pressing for payment. Their credit cards had hit their limits.

It was not a good night for Ticker, all his demons came back. His leg and arm throbbed.Next morning he went to his office. He would eventually say that he felt like a zombie that day. He was doing his best but the reality was that that hadn’t been enough – he just hadn’t made enough money since his injury and it would be a while until that situation would be rectified – there was a time lag between work and payment. He needed at least $90,000 to sort things out. Just for a few months, then the fees would come in and life would go on.Sitting at his desk he wondered what he could do. Who would lend him the money, the banks wouldn’t and his credit cards were already part of his problem. Jane’s stamp duty money? She didn’t need it right now and it would be some time before the deferred stamp duty would need to be paid – she wouldn’t mind. Jane was clearly flush with money and hadn’t even mentioned the money since he’d done the accounting. It was just as likely that she would simply rely on Ticker.

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