Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v Murray [2002] FCA 1252

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v Murray [2002] FCA 1252

The defendants' will writing business was not limited to selling forms and abstract information. Its essential operation required a licensee to attend the customer's home, use the tape, Blue Book, Live Will Forms and Pro Forma Will, and assist in producing a valid will appropriate to the customer's individual circumstances. The tape warranted that the will writer could achieve the same result as a lawyer and help prepare a legally binding will, and the Blue Book conveyed legal advice in the context of a particular customer's will. The business therefore involved unlawful legal practice or will preparation by non-lawyers under the relevant State legislation, so the representation that it...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
11 October 2002
Procedural Posture
Prosecution for Alleged Breaches of S 59(2) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (cth) / Reasons for Judgment After Hearing; Charges Determined, With Penalties and Costs Adjourned
Outcome
All charges found proved; questions of penalties and costs adjourned to a date to be fixed.
Legal Topics
['false or Misleading Representations About a Business Activity' 'will Writing Business' 'unqualified Legal Practice' 'statutory Defence of Reasonable Reliance on Information Supplied by Another Person']
['trade Practices' 'consumer Protection' 'legal Profession Regulation'] ['false or Misleading Representations About a Business Activity' 'will Writing Business' 'unqualified Legal Practice' 'statutory Defence of Reasonable Reliance on Information Supplied by Another Person']

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Procedural Posture

Prosecution for Alleged Breaches of S 59(2) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (cth) / Reasons for Judgment After Hearing; Charges Determined, With Penalties and Costs Adjourned

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the defendants represented, expressly or impliedly, that the will writing business being licensed could be carried on lawfully.' 'Whether the licensed will writing business amounted to unlawful legal practice under relevant State legislation.' 'Whether any contravention was due to reasonable reliance on information supplied by another person for the purposes of s 85(1)(b) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).']

Ratio Decidendi

The defendants' will writing business was not limited to selling forms and abstract information. Its essential operation required a licensee to attend the customer's home, use the tape, Blue Book, Live Will Forms and Pro Forma Will, and assist in producing a valid will appropriate to the customer's individual circumstances. The tape warranted that the will writer could achieve the same result as a lawyer and help prepare a legally binding will, and the Blue Book conveyed legal advice in the context of a particular customer's will. The business therefore involved unlawful legal practice or will preparation by non-lawyers under the relevant State legislation, so the representation that it...

Court Disposition

All charges found proved; questions of penalties and costs adjourned to a date to be fixed.

Orders

  • ['All charges are found proved.' 'Questions of penalties and costs are adjourned to a date to be fixed.']