Julian Hall could still be barred from practicing as a barrister in Bermuda, even if his bankruptcy is discharged — because he's also been banned from the English courts.

That was the claim made in Supreme Court yesterday by his fellow lawyer Saul Froomkin QC, acting for one of Mr. Hall's major creditors.

Mr. Froomkin said he'd just heard the news, which could justify the Bermuda Bar Council refusing to reinstate Mr. Hall to his profession here regardless of how his application for discharge of his bankruptcy goes.

Mr. Froomkin was prevented by Chief Justice Richard Ground from detailing just why Mr. Hall — who works as a legal consultant and resides in Canada, England, and the US — was banned in England.

However, details from the Council of the Inns of Court in London subsequently obtained by this newspaper show he was struck off in February 2005 after being found guilty of three charges of professional misconduct.

He was found guilty of failing in 2001 to comply with an order to repay £7,500 to one Irene Brown and £1,120 to the Bar Council.

He was also guilty of failing to report to the Bar Council promptly that a bankruptcy order had been made against him, and failing to respond to correspondence or requests from the Bar Council in respect of the first two matters.

In addition to being disbarred, Mr. Hall was also ordered to pay costs of £670.

Mr. Froomkin told yesterday's Supreme Court hearing that, according to a sworn statement from Mr. Hall, the Bermuda Industrial Union — for whom he has worked as a consultant — paid in the region of $7,000-$8,000 of the money owed in respect of the English matter.

Mr. Hall acknowledged that he is banned from working as a barrister in England, blaming this on his failure to report his bankruptcy in Bermuda. He disputed that this would affect his status with the Bermuda Bar Council.

"You don't even have to look at it. I'm a Bermudian and I am, contrary to what Mr. Froomkin says, a member of the Bermuda Bar," he told Chief Justice Richard Ground, who is assessing his bankruptcy status.

The Chief Justice said that adjudicating on Mr. Hall's status with the Bermuda Bar Council was not part of his remit.