WARNING: This article contains offensive language.
Embattled Melbourne lawyer Pat Lennon allegedly made sexual advances towards at least two former female clients who had also borrowed money from a company called Argyle Lending, which is owned by his wife Jane.
The 59-year-old, who is separately facing drug possession and trafficking charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, appears to have offered one of the women a reduction on her loan fees if she agreed to his requests.
Melbourne lawyer Pat Lennon is facing a new string of allegations.
Both women asked not to be identified, and have provided The Age with emails and SMS exchanges that reveal Lennon making a string of threats and inappropriate comments.
“Pay your money you c—. I told you.”
“I told you I would reduce your fees considerably as long as you follow my instructions in the bedroom! You will like it!!” Lennon said in an SMS exchange in August 2020.
The woman first met Lennon when he represented her in a Family Court matter, and was later involved in an intimate relationship with him.
Another former client, who was convicted of drug trafficking charges last year and is currently serving a custodial sentence at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, was also propositioned on several occasions by Lennon between August and October 2021.
The woman needed urgent funds to pay for lawyers during her trial in 2021 and had repeatedly asked Lennon to transfer rental income from her property that had been used as security on a loan from Argyle Lending.
On August 29, 2021, Lennon sent an SMS to the woman: “I’m getting aroused so u better stop texting.”
She responded: “I really don’t know how much longer you think you can get away with the things you do to your clients.”
Lennon replied “yap yap” and then asked: “why don’t we hook up? I’m sure we can work something out,” according to the SMS exchange.
On October 3, Lennon asked the woman: “u wanna come for dinner and stay the night?”
Pat Lennon.
He also asked the woman if her female friend would “entertain a sex for services arrangement”, according to the SMS messages.
Lennon did not respond to questions from The Age regarding the messages, other than to say “ur funny”.
The Age recently revealed that Lennon, who is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the legal industry regulator, had been accused of pressuring a former client to withdraw her complaint.
Hazel Brown, who was a former client of Lennon Lawyers and borrowed funds from Argyle Lending, alleged Lennon gave her a handwritten letter that she was asked to copy, sign and send to the Legal Services Commissioner to recant her original complaint of misconduct against him.
Lennon did not deny the claim, but again responded “ur funny” when asked for comment by The Age.
At the time, Brown urged Legal Services Commissioner Fiona McLeay to expedite the investigation of Lennon, who has been the subject of several complaints over the past two years, including two made by Supreme Court judges.
“I find it difficult to respect our legal system when there is evidently very little regulatory control over its licensed practitioners,” she said.
In 2020, Lennon was allegedly found with 11 grams of methamphetamine and almost $6000 cash inside a leather shoulder bag during a random car intercept in South Yarra. He intends to contest the charges at a two-day hearing in May.
In November last year, Lennon was attacked during the lunch break of a court hearing he was involved in, according to a barrister representing him.
He allegedly sustained a broken jaw in the daylight attack outside his office on Queen Street while appealing a magistrates’ court costs order, and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
McLeay recently confirmed that Lennon and his wife were the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Legal Services Commissioner, before issuing an appeal for information from the public.
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