19 July 2024

Victoria’s legal regulator has issued a warning to law practices to perform proper background checks on the non-legal staff they hire and provide ongoing supervision, after a paralegal was sent to prison for stealing client money from a sizeable law firm with offices across Australia.

Today, the County Court sentenced Athena Razos to 5 years 3 months’ imprisonment after she pleaded guilty in November 2022 to 16 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception, and obtaining property by deception.

Ms Razos stole over $1.56 million from 2013–17 while working at the law firm’s Melbourne office, exploiting her position and knowledge of their accounting processes to carry out over 100 transactions for her own benefit.

While carrying out these offenses, Ms Razos had prior convictions for theft and fraud, including theft from a law practice where she used to work.

Today’s sentence is the result of a lengthy and complex investigation undertaken by the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner (VLSB+C). The VLSB+C also took steps to disqualify Ms Razos from working as a lay associate of a law practice.

Acting Victorian Legal Services Board CEO and Commissioner Matthew Anstee said these serious consumer harms are avoidable, and he is urging law practice leaders to take action to avoid the real risks they pose to their clients’ money, their practice’s reputation, and consumer trust in the profession.

“It is vital that law practices carry out police checks, and most importantly reference checks from former employers before employing anyone. It is often as simple as a phone call, and the results of not doing this can be catastrophic,” Mr Anstee said.

“It is also vital that law practices have internal processes in place for supervising staff adequately, especially when it comes to handling trust money. Law practices with trust authority should never delegate their trust responsibilities, and must operate their trust accounts in line with the relevant statutory controls.”

A key risk that the VLSB+C is particularly concerned about is inadequate supervision.

“Principals have a professional and ethical obligation to know what is expected of them as a supervisor, and to ensure they are effective in supervising staff, including newly admitted lawyers – as stepped out in our guidelines,” Mr Anstee said.

For enquiries email us at media@lsbc.vic.gov.au.