Solicitor reprimanded, ordered to pay fine for failure to comply By Naomi Neilson|28 February 2021 A solicitor who failed to comply with an undertaking to retain money in a trust account has been found guilty of professional misconduct and reprimanded. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has found David Hunter guilty of disbursing funds from his trust account despite a written undertaking that he would not until a matter was resolved. He has admitted it was a breach and accepted that the penalty would be sufficient, given his lack of intention for wrongdoing. In November 2017, Mr Hunter gave a written undertaking to a fellow practitioner in connection with the completion of a conveyancing transaction, in which he was retained by a client to sell a unit in a neighbourhood plan. Amid the transaction was the issue of payment to the neighbourhood association for strata levies.