Seize the day … Audacious outsider trying to burst onto lawyers’ patch … When is legal work not legal work? … Chicken Treat upset … Unsuccessful attempt to introduce unticketed legal services … Nick Bonyhady reports
Arturo had masqueraded as a solicitor, while actually being a non-lawyer without a ticket and not being entitled to ply the trade.
In one 2015 incident, he advised Ms Erit David on a civil claim against a tradesman and in another dispute she had with two real estate agents.
Fazio told Ms David that he practised as a lawyer but “did not have an office … so he could charge less”. In this capacity, he helped her on the assessment of damages in her claim against the tradesman and sent an email to the estate agents accusing one of them of engaging in defamatory conduct.
There was a red flag – Fazio asked David to keep his involvement in her cases secret.
In a second incident, which took place in 2016, Fazio pursued an insurance firm over a public liability claim by an unidentified claimant against a Chicken Treat fast food outlet.
He wrote letters of demand, drafted a claim for the Magistrates Court, and made allegations of negligence on behalf of the claimant.
Fazio’s services cost a pretty penny. One invoice to David was for over $7,000 while he attempted to extract $8,220 in “costs” from the Chicken Treat insurers.
His scheme began to unravel when David presented the assessment of damages that Fazio had prepared to a magistrate, who informed her of several errors with the document, including that there could be no provision of costs for Fazio as he was not a lawyer.
When David confronted Fazio, he responded that he had not performed legal work.
Likewise, Helen Jovanovic, a lawyer and consultant at the insurance company, grew suspicious of Fazio when he was unable to substantiate his client’s claim for $25,000 in damages.
The only evidence Fazio provided for that sum was a doctor’s certificate and pay stubs showing his client had missed two weeks of work, worth about $900 in income.
After Fazio asked for $10,000 from the insurer to consult with a QC, Jovanovic took her concerns to the Legal Practice Board.
Even the board seems to have found Fazio tricky to deal with. Justice Prichard noted that “Mr Fazio has proved elusive, and personal service has not been possible”.
HH ordered the defendant be notified by email that she had injuncted him from doing anything lawyerly without a ticket.
Ciao Arturo.