Farah Mehta: Suspended lawyer cops heavy fine for ‘undermining’ regulator’s disciplinary action

A suspended Perth barrister who represented herself as if she was still practising has been handed a hefty fine and bigger court bill, with the magistrate refusing her request for a spent conviction. Farah Farhad Mehta began her career in stellar fashion as an associate to recently retired Court of Appeal president Justice Michael Buss, working her way up to prosecutor in NSW and the Northern Territory, according to her LinkedIn profile. The 44-year-old then ran her own legal firm for five years until June 2023, when she was suspended by the Legal Practice Board of WA. Under the disciplinary action, she was only allowed to do paralegal work under direction, and later that same month allowed her practising certificate to lapse. But in July 2023, she conducted and represented herself as if she was still entitled to engage in legal practice, Perth Magistrates Court was told on Wednesday. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said the offending involved Mehta directly emailing a State prosecutor and District Court judge’s associate on behalf of a client, and separate representations to a different client. The biggest problem was her failure to adhere to the condition that she only work under a supervisor, and there was the “combined effect” of “what she wrote and how she wrote it,” along with the digital signature. She said Mehta had glowing character references — including from former Justices and senior members of the profession — and may have misrepresented herself because she was worried about loss of reputation. “Whatever the motivation, the fact remains it was misleading,” Ms Scaddan said. It was not a trivial matter to undermine the regulatory board’s instructions, she said, declining Mehta’s bid for a spent conviction. Ms Scaddan fined Mehta $11,000 and ordered her to pay costs of $12,464.