Reichman is reported to have
made himself out to be a lawyer working at a Gold Coast firm when he fronted three different magistrates in a criminal matter before the Beenleigh Magistrates Court between January and July, 2013 [and reportedly] sent an email to the registry seeking an adjournment of the case where his signature block wrongly claimed he was a solicitor.The prosecutor appears to have indicated that
Reichman was employed as a legal clerk for barrister Christopher Rosser at the time, not Michelle Porcheron Lawyers as he claimed in court. ...
Reichman’s story came undone when Mr Rosser advised Magistrate Trevor Morgan his young protégé was not an Australian legal practitioner but his clerk. The court was told Magistrate Morgan asked both Mr Rosser and Reichman to front his court the following day, but the young clerk was absent because he was sitting his final law exam. ...
Reichman’s social media accounts were examined during the investigation, revealing he had posted screen-grabs of himself acting in a legal capacity on Channel 9 News on Facebook and Linked In. ... Instagram images posted by Reichman were accompanied with the hashtags: #lawyer, #younglawyer and #criminallawyers. Barrister Patricia Kirknan-Scroope, for Reichman, said her client was just 20 at the time and had moved up to the Gold Coast from Melbourne to accept a scholarship at Bond University in 2011. She said he was deeply ashamed and remorseful.
Ms Kirknan-Scroope said Reichman initially undertook work experience with Mr Rosser before he was hired as a legal clerk in 2012. He said Reichman “aspired” to be like his legal mentor and became “mesmerised” by the thought of owning his own practice one day. She said he graduated in September and still hoped to work as a lawyer, although he was not yet admitted.
Ms Kirknan-Scroope said Reichman still worked with Mr Rosser. She said his social media accounts were driven by an intense desire to impress his family in Melbourne. She said Reichman’s behaviour took place in the context of him failing to take his medication for Attention Deficit Disorder.The Courier-Mail reports the magistrate as commenting
“I can comprehend that you got swept away in the excitement of commencing what you believed was going to be your career at an earlier point than what you were permitted to do so.” But she said Reichman was very young and perhaps “mesmerised at the prospect of eagerness to join the legal fraternity”. She ordered he pay costs and did not record a conviction.
