Joanne Cottrell skipped her hearing before the tribunal and was reportedly disengaged during the disciplinary process
The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has struck former lawyer Joanne Cottrell off the roll of barristers and solicitors after determining that she was guilty of two charges of misconduct linked to immigration-related professional services as well as of a charge connected to convictions for misleading Immigration New Zealand (INZ), reported the NZ Law Society.
In the first misconduct charge, a client tapped Cottrell to aid in a bid to secure a skilled migrant visa. Alongside her legal practice, Cottrell owned a recruitment agency, and had the client sign an employment agreement with her agency. She agreed to look for work for the client in the field of civil engineering to support his visa application.
However, the client was instead put to work in building renovation and construction, employed by companies that were owned by Cottrell or her associates. He was paid a minimal salary for the work, which was not his area of expertise, and urged to take his compensation in cash to dodge Inland Revenue requirements.
Cottrell falsely declared the nature of the client’s employment, and did not inform him for more than a year that his visa application had been declined, making him liable for deportation. The tribunal listed as a serious aggravating factor her position of conflict in this matter.
In the second misconduct charge, a client tasked Cottrell with securing a joint residency visa for herself and her husband after the client’s first application was denied for not including relevant background information, causing the client’s husband to be deported. Cottrell instructed the client sign an incomplete form in June 2017, with the client under the impression that Cottrell would finish and file the form.
The client was not given a chance to check the form before Cottrell filed it, still lacking the required information. As a result, the application was once again denied. Although Cottrell was made aware of this status in 30 November 2017, she did not advise with the client. Cottrell contacted the client again in October 2019 with the instruction that they should submit a new application, but failed to explain why.
Cottrell racked up a conviction for providing the INZ with false or misleading information as well as two charges of aiding and abetting individuals to violate visa conditions. The Standards Committee determined that the convictions were indicative of her fitness to practise law as well as her tendency to negatively impact the profession’s reputation; she was handed a sentence of four months of community detention and reparation.
The tribunal ruled that every charge was proven, and decided that Cottrell’s show of misconduct was on the “very serious end” of the misconduct continuum. The tribunal also determined that both misconduct charges reflected a general pattern of failure and the disregard of vulnerable clients’ interests.
Throughout the disciplinary process, Cottrell was reportedly disengaged and skipped the tribunal hearing. Thus, the tribunal ruled that “no penalty short of strike off will suffice to ensure protection of the public and maintenance of the reputation of the profession for upholding high professional standards”.
The strike-off was made official on 6 August. Cottrell was also slapped with an order to pay costs.
“There is no place in the legal profession for lawyers who act dishonestly and then abandon their responsibilities to the profession”, the tribunal said.
