Maurice Neil

A disgruntled client who accused a Sydney-based law firm of running a “woefully prepared” case has lost his appeal of a judge’s rejection of his bid for a $225,000 personal costs order against the firm.

A judge has found former NSW Labor Ministers Ian McDonald and Eddie Obeid, as well as Obeid’s son Moses, guilty of conspiring to rig a tender process for a coal mining exploration licence on the Obeids’ land in the Bylong Valley.

A fair trial cannot be conducted in a virtual courtroom, the judge overseeing the criminal case against former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald has said in adjourning their hearing for five months.