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Criminal lawyer facing Supreme Court over sexual assault charges found guilty of contempt of court for lock changes
Criminal lawyer facing Supreme Court over sexual assault charges found guilty of contempt of court for lock changes
23 June 2021 • By Naomi Neilson Share
A prominent criminal lawyer who was accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl has been found guilty of contempt of court for having the locks of his Melbourne office changed before a manager appointed to the firm could access the premises.
Melbourne-based lawyer Glenn Thexton is awaiting penalties after being found guilty of contempt of court for changing the locks shortly after his practising certificate was suspended. When the manager appointed to the firm discovered the lock change, a series of emails confirmed he had worked with the property manager to do so.
Silks, judges to face âgood characterâ test in Victoria
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Victorian barristers and judges must be assessed to be of good character before taking silk or going to the bench, respectively, under new rules designed to stamp out widespread sexual harassment in the legal industry.
As part of 20 recommendations put forward by a government review into sexual harassment in Victorian courts, the appointment process for judicial officers will be changed to âexplicitly require that potential appointees are of good character and have consistently demonstrated professional respect and courtesyâ.
Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes: âThis report puts sexual harassment in Victorian courts and the harm it causes in the spotlight where it canât be ignored any longer.âÂ
The notice was sent at about the same time that Ms Teffaha filed the class action on behalf of thousands of public housing tenants subjected to the hard lockdown that confined them to their homes in July 2020.
The board has not said what led to the cancellation of Ms Teffahaâs licence.
The lawyer had been seeking clients for a range of class action that covered people affected by various COVID-19 measures, including any form of detention, mandatory vaccination, business closure, isolation in residential aged care, cross-border rules and contact tracing.
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On Monday, Ms Teffaha said losing her licence would not affect the class action, and that she had written a whistleblower complaint against the legal watchdog for what she considered to be the targeting of her litigation.
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Victoriaâs legal watchdog is threatening to cancel the practising certificate of the lawyer behind a class action launched on behalf of 3000 public housing tower residents who were compulsorily shut inside their homes at the height of the coronavirus pandemicâs second wave.
Emails seen by
The Age confirm the Victorian Legal Services Board wrote to solicitor Serene Teffaha in March to provide her with a ânotice of proposed cancellation of practising certificateâ.
Solicitor Serene Teffaha of Advocate Me says she intends to contest the action from the Victorian Legal Services Board.
The notice was sent to Ms Teffaha, a high-profile anti-lockdown activist, at the same time that she filed the class action on behalf of thousands of public housing tenants subjected to the hard lockdown by the state government and confined to their homes in July 2020.