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A lawyer who spun a “spider’s web” of a property deal has tried to win his way back into the legal fraternity by implying that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon supported his comeback.��

Former lawyer John Dorbu was struck off in 2011 after he called a High Court judge a racist, attacked the credibility of a former member of the Law Society and misled an Australian court about the trouble he was facing in New Zealand.��

However, it was the orchestration of a complex property conspiracy involving a $1 million building in Auckland’s CBD that made up the bulk of the charges against him.��

After his client signed a deal to sell the building on Anzac Ave, an offer was received from an overseas buyer that was $122,000 higher.��

The seller tried to cancel the contract and offered the first buyer $30,000 to walk away, but the first buyer refused and placed a caveat on the property to protect their interest.��

Dorbu then tried to void the sale by transferring the seller’s shares and their mortgage in an attempt to undermine the caveat so his client could accept the higher offer.��

Earlier in May, Dorbu decided his nearly 15-year exile should end and applied to the Law Society for the return of his practising certificate.��

“I am a new person now,” he told the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, which struck him off in 2011.��

Dorbu now calls himself James McConnor after legally changing his name in 2018.��

As part of his application for a practising certificate, he referred to an alleged conversation with Luxon and submitted an affidavit saying that “our discussions on faith and aspirations were profoundly inspiring”.��

However, in its ruling released last week, the tribunal said: “There is no indication that the Prime Minister knows of, or supports, his application. We are unimpressed by a suggestion of support when there is none”.��

The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to ��һ�ǿ����� that Luxon had no knowledge of McConnor’s application.��

McConnor conceded during his hearing that various other lawyers he name-dropped as potential mentors would probably have been surprised to hear he’d used their names in his support. His application was not supported formally by any other lawyer.��

“Mr McConnor asks us to give him the chance to prove himself. But we cannot experiment,” the tribunal said.��

“Instead of fronting up to those things where he had been criticised in the past, Mr McConnor avoided and obfuscated them.��

“We formed the view that he would prefer to close his mind to this uncomfortable material, and for the rest of the world to do likewise.”��

The tribunal said McConnor failed to face up to his past wrongdoings and “fudged” his answers to them by saying “the past wasn’t me”.��

In particular, they were concerned he was currently attempting to sue Auckland Transport and Baycorp for defamation after he was fined $150 for driving in a bus lane.��

“Whatever the rights and wrongs of the litigation, it has the appearance of hubris and disproportionality about it, both traits that concern us.”��

Ultimately, the tribunal found this was “not a borderline case” and said it would be unsafe for the public and the reputation of the profession for McConnor to be re-enrolled.��

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for ��һ�ǿ����� since 2022.��