A judge has given the green light for the applicants in the Robodebt class action to file an amended statement of claim on the eve of trial that adds a claim for exemplary damages and drags five government employees into the proceedings.
A judge has stopped short of rejecting new claims in the Robodebt class action despite “obvious errors” in the allegations, but has sent the applicants back to the drawing board and warned them the matter would not proceed as a “dog’s breakfast”.
An independent costs consultant retained to assess the legal fees sought to be recouped from a settlement in a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities has denied he was the âdogsbodyâ of funder Mark Elliott during a fiery cross examination at trial over the costs of the litigation.
A week after silk Norman OâBryan dropped his defence against allegations of misconduct in the running of a class action over the failure of Banksia Securities, his junior counsel, Michael Symons, has also conceded defeat, telling a court he too should be struck off the practitionersâ roll.Â
Barrister Norman O’Bryan has accepted that he should be struck from the roll of legal practitioners after dropping his defence mid-trial against claims of professional misconduct as senior counsel for a class action financed by the late Mark Elliott, but the consequences for the once high-flying silk might not end there.
Receivers appointed in the wake of the collapse of Banksia Securities may seek costs orders against the estate of deceased funder and class action lawyer Mark Elliott, a court has heard. Meanwhile, the Victorian Bar says it has âevery confidence in the judicial processâ after senior counsel Norman OâBryan yesterday abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the case.
Barrister Norman O’Bryan SC has abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the Banksia Securities class action and expressed contrition to the court for his actions.
The judge overseeing a trial over legal fees and funding commission in the Banksia Securities class action has questioned whether the lawyers behind the case should remain on the roll of practitioners if allegations of misconduct aired in the hearing so far — which include billing for phantom costs — are made out.
Lawyer Mark Elliott was the “puppet master” behind the Banksia class action, retaning an old school mate to represent the lead applicant but in reality funding and running the proceedings with barristers Norman O’Bryan SC and Michael Symons to line their pockets at the expense of group members, a court has been told.
The funder and legal team behind a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities billed for phantom costs in a âfraudulent schemeâ to secure almost $20 million from the case, the contradictor investigating the purported misconduct has told a court.