We advise that Spiros Kalotihos is not a registered legal practitioner. He cannot engage in any type of legal practice or represent that he is entitled to do so. It is a criminal offence in Victoria for an unqualified person to undertake legal work, or falsely claim that they are qualified to engage in legal practice.

We are aware that Mr Kalotihos has made a number of claims, including that:

• he was a ‘barrister’ by profession and/or occupation;
• he is entitled to appear in courtrooms as an ‘attorney’ to represent clients; and
• that he started his own law practice in the 1980s.

The terms ‘attorney’ and ‘barrister’ are protected titles and can only be used by certain persons in certain circumstances. When a person uses a protected title, a court will presume that the person has made an unlawful representation that they are entitled to engage in legal practice, unless they can provide compelling evidence to the contrary. Further, a person’s appointment under a Power of Attorney does not authorise them to act in breach of the law on unqualified legal practice.

Mr Kalotihos is, or has previously been, associated with a number of entities including:

• ‘Aid and Abet’;
• ‘People Against Corruption’; and
• ‘People’s Trust Victoria’.

These entities are not law practices registered with the VLSB+C, nor do they appear on our records as non-legal employers (that is, organisations that do not provide legal services but employ lawyers). As such, these entities must not provide legal services or represent that they are entitled to do so.

We encourage you to search our Register of Lawyers to check if a lawyer is licensed to practise. The register also contains information about a practitioner’s place of practice, their practising certificate type, their areas of practice and any languages they speak.