Ban for jailed lawyer

A BRISBANE lawyer jailed for stealing more than $1.8 million from clients will be banned from practising law. The Brisbane District Court was told last December that solicitor Russell Biddle used the money partly to pay off his firm’s $1.2 million tax debt, though some went on personal expenses. The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal yesterday ordered his name be removed from the roll of practitioners kept by the Queensland Supreme Court. It also ordered that he pay the Legal Services Commissioner’s costs.