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A Sydney solicitor who "milked" clients for excessive fees and misappropriated trust funds has been struck off the roll of lawyers, in a damning end to his legal career.
Bruce Percy Hocking, 86, was a director of now-defunct Sydney law firm DC Legal when he acted for clients including creditors of the collapsed gold miner Sons of Gwalia.
The Law Society took action against him in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a range of alleged misconduct, including gross overcharging and misleading clients in the Sons of Gwalia matter and misappropriating money in a defamation case.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the tribunal upheld the grounds and said Mr Hocking was "no longer a fit and proper person to engage in legal practice".
The University of Sydney alumnus was previously struck off the roll in 1968 for similar misconduct when he was 38, 15 years into his legal career.
He went on to work in senior positions in franchises, including Weight Watchers Australia, before being readmitted to the profession in the late 1990s when he was aged 65.
The misconduct took place between July 2009 and January 2014 and included deducting fees from dividends paid to clients in the Sons of Gwalia case without the clients' authorisation.
"In some cases the whole of the dividend was appropriated on account of costs and disbursements," the tribunal found.
Clients had agreed only to pay a one-off fee of $550, plus legal costs "as the court may allow" if the claim was successful, and were not told the total amount they had received in dividends before costs were deducted.
The tribunal said clients had "not only experienced the substantial losses they suffered as investors ... but also suffered the further indignity of being deceived regarding the fees they would be charged, and having their dividends milked for additional fees" without disclosure or compliance with trust accounting rules.
In a defamation case against Fairfax Media, Mr Hocking was found to have misappropriated money owing to barristers who were briefed to appear.
The tribunal said the money was used to "prop up" the firm's office account, which was "in overdraft to a significant amount", and was not paid to the barristers for several months.
Mr Hocking did not appear at the final hearing but had told the tribunal he ceased practising as a lawyer in June last year owing to "age and ill-health".
The tribunal said there was "no evidence" of any mitigating circumstances in the case and the misconduct proven against Mr Hocking in the 1968 case bore "striking similarity" to the present case.
This included "the making of false statements and representations; and appropriating to his own use moneys paid as costs for work done as a partner of his firm".
The tribunal said it was clear Mr Hocking had "failed to learn from his previous experience".
He was struck off the role of lawyers and ordered to pay the Law Society's costs.
