The Legal Services Commission obtained an injunction against Karli Helen McLachlan in 2021, prohibiting her from seeking to be – or being – employed by a law practice or being associated with a law practice.
Queensland Law Society has been informed that Ms McLachlan might again be seeking to work in law practices. QLS has also been informed that Ms McLachlan might be using another name, “Gallan”.
A law practice must obtain approval from the Society to employ a person if the practice knows the person has been found guilty of a serious offence.
Practitioners are encouraged to ensure they conduct due diligence on prospective employees and seek approval from Queensland Law Society as necessary.
2 Responses
Ironically, numerous recent attempts to access a QLS “do not employ” list, when trying to do the right thing when hiring staff, were met with advice that the QLS no longer maintains a list of people not to employ, as the QLS does not keep a record of this. One wonders how the trite advice that “Practitioners are encouraged to ensure they conduct due diligence on prospective employees” is to be discharged.
Very good point Mark, I too have encountered such issues when attempting to “conduct due diligence” and very much look forward to hearing from QLS and/or LSC on how they expect such duties are to be discharged when the very beholders of such information fail to provide clear and easily accessible ways to view it!