Lawyer Alex Elliott can’t refuse to hand over evidence in the Banksia class action on the grounds of privilege against self incrimination or exposure to penalty because he waived privilege when he produced the documents to lawyers for his late father’s funder, a court has been told.
Lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of the mastermind behind an alleged fraudulent scheme by certain members of the legal team in the Banksia class action, has resisted handing over evidence in the case against him, invoking the right to silence in the face of possible criminal charges.
The cost consultant joined as a defendant in the trial over alleged misconduct by the Banksia class action legal team has died, the second person implicated in the fee scandal to die this year.
Lawyer Alex Elliott was complicit in a plan by his late father to mislead the court and group members in the Banksia class action, to conceal conflicts of interest and to profit from the case at the expense of debenture holders, a judge has been told.
The Murray Goulburn class action run by Elliott Legal bears similarities to the Banksia class action, a case rife with scandal and offered up by opponents as proof of the problems with the class action regime. The leading lawyers were the same in both cases. In one they have abandoned any claim to their fees and have walked away from their careers. In the other they walked away with $5 million.
The judge overseeing a settled class action against Murray Goulburn, which earned millions of dollars for the same legal team accused of serious misconduct in the running of the Banksia class action, invited the parties last month to reopen the case, concerned he had been misled when approving the lawyers’ costs.
Alex Elliott, the son of former Banksia Securities class action lawyer Mark Elliott, must hand over documents revealing his financial interests in his father’s litigation funding company and law firm, after the judge overseeing professional misconduct claims against lawyers in the class action rejected his claims that the discovery was a fishing expedition.
The judge overseeing professional misconduct claims against lawyers in the Banksia class action appeared to express “a very dim view” of Alex Elliott, the son of class action lawyer Mark Elliott, and should not hear the case against him, a court has heard.
The son of controversial class action lawyer Mark Elliott has hired a big gun barrister to represent him in the Banksia class action proceedings and will be asking the judge overseeing the case against him to step aside.
The legal watchdog in Victoria will be asked to probe potential misconduct against the legal team behind the controversial Banksia Securities class action for their fees in a separate class action, which last year settled for $40 million.