Greensborough Lawyer Oppressed and Vilified for Standing Up to the Victorian Legal Services Board

Rule O’Flaw

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00:00In the last video, we revealed how the Legal Services Board authorized questionable billing

00:04practices, allowing millions of dollars to be charged without scrutiny.

00:09In this video, we reveal something even more disturbing, how they target individuals, dismantle

00:16their livelihoods, and employ both overt and insidious tactics to break them.

00:21This is not regulation.

00:23It is lawfare calculated to inflict oppression and vilification.

00:26Thomas Flittner is a veteran lawyer who built and ran a small suburban law firm in Greensboro

00:33for over 20 years.

00:35Years ago, he faced disciplinary action brought by the Legal Services Board.

00:39He challenged the decision through the courts, and the Court of Appeal ultimately ruled in

00:44his favor, finding that the sanction imposed by VCAT and sought by the Board was manifestly

00:49excessive.

00:49He even won a cost order against the Board, around $80,000.

00:53However, instead of moving on, the VLSB appeared to look for reasons to retaliate against him,

01:00placing him under intense scrutiny, which Thomas describes as relentless regulatory pressure.

01:06That pressure culminated in October 2023, when without warning, two men, Gordon Cooper and

01:12Nick Curran, entered his office while he was unwell at home and announced they were taking

01:17over the practice he had built over two decades.

01:19His staff were instructed to leave the office, cease all communication with clients, and refrain

01:25from speaking with Thomas.

01:27For Thomas, it was a complete ambush.

01:30He hadn't been served with any documents beforehand.

01:33He wasn't allowed to seek any clarification from the VLSB or even an injunction from the Supreme

01:38Court.

01:39What followed was devastating.

01:42Thomas faced professional and financial collapse.

01:45Clients were left in the dark, files were sealed off, and damaging rumors, unproven and unchecked,

01:52began to spread through the legal community and even his personal life.

01:56The sudden loss of his life's work took a heavy toll.

02:01Struggling with the impact, Thomas developed serious mental health issues that left him unable

02:05to return to work.

02:06When he sought to rely on work cover, Curran first denied his employment status, sabotaging

02:12his claim.

02:14Then he was later confirmed as an employee, only to be terminated immediately, with Curran

02:19disclaiming responsibility for any entitlements.

02:22In a powerful letter to the Victorian Legal Services Board, solicitor acting for Thomas, Stephen

02:27Walters accused the board and its appointed manager, Nicholas Curran, of deliberately destroying

02:32Thomas Flittner's law firm.

02:34Here's what he complained.

02:34The firm was shut down without notice.

02:37All staff were abruptly terminated, leaving clients stranded.

02:41One employee was so traumatized she had to leave her home.

02:45Client emails were blocked, including Mr. Flittner's personal account.

02:49Office computers were seized without legal authority.

02:52No effort was made to manage the practice, only to wind it up.

02:56Clients were reportedly told to go elsewhere for legal help.

03:01Important client files were withheld, risking serious harm.

03:04The board ignored repeated offers for an orderly takeover by experienced lawyers.

03:09In contrast, Flittner and Walters proposed a straightforward solution.

03:14Let them manage the firm, keep staff employed, and protect every client's rights.

03:19Their goal was simple, to preserve the firm and support the people who depended on it.

03:25However, instead of collaboration, they faced silence, obstruction, and what Walters described

03:31as a reckless abuse of power.

03:32And what happened to Walters after sending that letter?

03:36You can probably guess, but we'll come back to that later.

03:38After the legal services board appointed Nick Curran as external manager,

03:42Thomas Flittner tried to sell his firm.

03:45He had a genuine buyer, his lawyer, Stephen Walters, ready and able to pay.

03:50Thomas informed the board.

03:51Instead, they handed over the business he had built over two decades to DeMaria Associates

04:02for nothing.

04:03He wasn't bankrupt.

04:04He wasn't struck off.

04:06As he put it plainly,

04:07The manager was installed on 23 October 2023.

04:16Just eight weeks later, on 22 December, the takeover was quietly announced on another firm's

04:22website.

04:23In that short time, the legal services board shut down the sale, ignored the qualified buyer,

04:28and transferred the firm without notice, without terms, without any justification.

04:34Unable to have his grievances heard by Victorian oversight authorities,

04:37the courts, and the Victorian parliament,

04:39Thomas worked with other individuals who were also oppressed and vilified by the Victorian

04:44Legal Services Board to form a support group.

04:47Intent on holding the board accountable for its haughty disdain for the profession

04:51and contumelious disregard for the rights of lawyers and their clients,

04:55they began collating evidence of the rampant corruption within the VLSB.

05:00After coming across our publications about the VLSB on various social media platforms,

05:05this group reached out to us for a platform to have their voices heard.

05:09After carefully reviewing the evidence they presented,

05:12we interviewed members of the group to help them expose the truth about their persecution

05:16by the VLSB and the failure of the courts and oversight bodies to provide relief.

05:21The VLSB is quite a bit of a matter of support for other organizations.

05:33We interviewed members of the featured were taught by the various projects by the record industry,

05:36the former female company, Sir Owen, who was actually influenced by the rights of Victoria's

05:37Larry抓w etwas de Donald Cook 100% support the rights ofUT.

05:39The crew is a very different direction of the elite in the United States,

05:41therefore made aausal way of the means that everyone presents a constitutional constitutional

05:42and cob

05:45You have to close MK's purpose.

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