Alexander Barnett

A former EY partner accused of pocketing $700,000 in secret commissions as part of a tax loss scheme has invoked privilege against exposure to penalty in a client’s suit.

HWL Ebsworth and a former capital partner have both appealed a ruling that found the partner was invalidly expelled in 2020 but that his partnership had been dissolved from the day he sued his former firm. 

A former capital partner at HWL Ebsworth has lost his argument that he remained in the firm’s partnership until last month, after a judge found he was invalidly expelled in 2020. 

HWL Ebsworth has argued a former capital partner who was found to have been invalidly expelled in 2020 cannot claim a share of the law firm’s profits from then to now, saying he could not reap the benefits of partnership without the “burdens”.

A judge has ruled that HWL Ebsworth invalidly expelled a former capital partner, finding that the expulsion, which prevented him from participating in a planned float of the firm on the ASX, breached the partnership deed. 

A former HWL Ebsworth capital partner alleging he was unlawfully expelled and excluded from a planned float on the ASX has argued HWLE’s late managing partner, Juan Martinez, thought the firm could “hire and fire at will” without giving proper reasons.

A judge has approved a confidential settlement in a class action on behalf of 383 apartment owners in Sydney’s Opal Tower but slashed the amount sought by the funder.

The litigation funder bankrolling a class action on behalf of 383 apartment owners in Sydney’s troubled Opal Tower is seeking a 26 per cent commission totalling $13.2 million of the confidential settlement sum, a court has heard. 

A $13 million commission sought by the funder that bankrolled the Opal Tower class action is stalling settlement approval, as debate continues over whether the funder can recoup the costs of after-the-event insurance from group members.

Although the settlement sum has not been disclosed, court documents in the Opal Tower class action reveal the litigation funder backing the case will seek $13.2 million in commission when the parties appear before the court later this year.