2. Flitner Explains How the VLSB is Notorious for Taking

Detrimental Actions Against Its Detractors
In this powerful and deeply personal testimony, Victorian lawyer Thomas Flitner reveals how the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner (VLSB+C) allegedly weaponised their regulatory powers to destroy his legal career after he dared to win against them in court.
Thomas explains how, after defeating the Victorian Government Solicitor in litigation, he was warned by his own lawyers: the regulator would seek revenge. And, according to him, they did ruthlessly.
📌 What you'll learn in this video:
Targeted Regulatory Retaliation: Thomas describes how VLSB+C conducted repeated and invasive audits — not because of client complaints, but allegedly to dig until they “found something” to destroy him. He says that while most lawyers go their whole careers without such treatment, he was subjected to it twice — in what he describes as a deliberate psychological campaign.
Personal and Health Crises Ignored: During this time, Thomas battled cancer, surgeries, and chronic pain. Despite these medical issues, he says the regulator showed no compassion and intensified their actions during his most vulnerable periods.
A Shocking Internal Betrayal: He alleges that a senior associate at his firm — a lawyer with a criminal diversion history she did not disclose — opened her own firm while still employed by him, poached 78 clients and multiple staff, and then submitted damaging letters to the regulator to falsely portray him as incompetent.
Weaponising Disability Stereotypes: According to Thomas, the VLSB leaned on his Asperger’s diagnosis to further claim he was “not a fit and proper person” to manage a law practice. He has since lodged a formal complaint of disability discrimination against the regulator with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
Conflict of Interest at the Core: The auditor appointed to investigate Thomas — Damian Neylon — was selected by Alice Duggan, a former legal placement student in Thomas’s own firm, whom he had personally supervised and signed off on for admission to practice. Thomas raised this prior relationship and called on Duggan to recuse herself due to a clear conflict of interest. She did not.
📂 Why this matters:
This isn’t just about one lawyer’s ordeal. Thomas’s story raises serious concerns about:
The use of regulatory audits as retaliatory tools
Unaccountable appointments were made despite conflicts of interest
The discriminatory use of mental health or neurodivergence to remove professionals from practice
The lack of procedural fairness and oversight in one of the most powerful legal regulatory bodies in Australia
💬 As Thomas says: “When you’re in their sights, you’ll always be in their sights.”
This video is a must-watch for lawyers, regulators, legal academics, human rights advocates, and anyone concerned about the misuse of institutional power and the silencing of dissent within the legal profession.