Court told of “rogue” barrister plying for trade on the Gold Coast … Local solicitors unhappy with online marketing claims … Former client says he was poorly advised … Barrister looking like a law firm … Reference to Legal Services Commission … Andrew Bell reports 

Gold Coast barrister Christopher Rosser has been referred to the Legal Services Commissioner by the Qld. Chief Justice after a fiery cross-examination suggested he has been advertising and conducting his legal practice as a law firm.

The setting was an appeal against conviction following a plea bargain on the advice of Rosser. His former client, Jason Matheson, had pleaded guilty to a single count of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child (to avoid trial on 14 related charges).

Matheson maintained that he was wrongly advised to plead guilty and appealed to have the plea vacated. 

His new barrister, Peter Davis QC, largely ventilated issues of credibility when exploring the operation of Rosser’s business. He told the Court of Appeal: 

“In our submission – and we obviously don’t say this lightly – Mr Rosser is obviously a rogue barrister. He is clearly operating a practice in a misleading and fraudulent way.” 

The CJ said the reference to the LSC concerns Rosser’s evidence, plus some of the affidavits, and whether he held out an entity under his control, the Legal Advisory Service, “as an organisation which was independent of you and which was a law firm and whether you represented the Court Advisory Service, which was also an entity under your control, as an organisation consisting of lawyers and barristers and whether any funds received were received on trust and, if so, whether they were properly dealt with”.  

“Court Advisory Service offers free legal advice on all matters relating to court appearances. Our experienced lawyers and barristers service all courts … At Court Advisory, our criminal lawyers Brisbane have decades of experience.” 

Davis said Rosser is … 

“trying to represent to the world that Court Advisory is a substantial enterprise involving lots of experienced criminal lawyers …” 

The site is replete with an endorsement video with Rosser recommending that people talk to Legal Advisory before seeing any law firm – for traffic offences, police charges, and any other court appearances.

“Not again, please”, the Chief Justice pleaded after a second playing. 

Chris Rosser – Gold Coast Legal Advisory from Darren Fryer on Vimeo. 

Rosser argued that in the video he is simply endorsing himself in his capacity as Legal Advisory.

He employs Jacob Lazar Reichtman as a clerk, a person with a colourful history having been fined for holding himself out on six occasions as a solicitor appearing before the Beenleigh Magistrates Court. At the time he was a second year law student.  

In court, Reichtman denied that he had masqueraded as an employee of another firm, Michelle Porcheron Lawyers.

Rosser said, “I took on Mr Reichtman as a clerk in the – in the early days; he showed a lot of promise. I have, as I said, curtailed him of recent times because of the foul-ups that he has done”. 

Carl Heaton QC, for the DPP, told the court of appeal:  

“I can accept that there are reasons why the court would view with some circumspection the evidence given by Mr Rosser and perhaps Mr Reichtman.”

Clients such as Matheson sign restrictive direct access contracts, which include clauses such as:  

“Office conferences being held are not with a qualified lawyer … I should not act or rely solely on any part of the information.” 

According to his uncontradicted evidence, Matheson was not given a copy of the agreement. It was also suggested that Rosser charged Matheson almost $15,000 in breach of the Queensland Barristers Rules. 

The complainant at the trial was the appellant’s wife and the issue was whether their sexual relationship began while she was underage. 

Matheson said he was advised to plead guilty, “I believed I was in good hands”. The appellant testified that Rosser told him: 

“You will have to cop something and plead guilty to something or go to trial. The trial will cost you at least $20,000.” 

He said to avoid that cost he pleaded guilty. It seems that Rosser and Reichtman never suggested that Legal Aid was an option to defray the fees.

Matheson maintained throughout the appeal that he always believed he was innocent and would avoid conviction – “because it was my wife and I thought that the court and the judge will see through [her] lies”. 

It is unclear whether the lawyers took Matheson through the brief of evidence before advising him to plead guilty. They claimed they did, but this issue clearly caused the CJ some concern. 

Rosser isn’t popular among Queensland lawyers, something he readily acknowledges: 

“I have the hostility of local lawyers, Gold Coast lawyers and especially Mr Potts’ firm who have tried before to lodge complaints.

I suppose in the last three years there would have been half a dozen complaints to [sic] them.  All of those were eliminated by the Legal Services Commissioner and I’ve received notices that there was nothing – no substance to them.  So I’m a – yes, I’m at odds with the solicitors on the Gold Coast. 

They don’t like what I do, because I’m taking business away from them. And I’ve heard criticism of me – how can you go into court and charge someone $400 to do a plea in a Magistrates Court.”