Companies associated with the wife of disgraced senior barrister Norman O’Bryan can’t get a new judge to hear their battle against a third-party costs summons that would make them jointly liable for a $21.5 million judgment for investors in a class action over Banksia Securities’ collapse.
A court has appointed provisional liquidators to the IPO Wealth Group, rejecting claims by the firm’s sole director that the move would severely damage his reputation and that of the wider Mayfair group.
The embattled founder of Mayfair 101 investment group has denied allegations that its $80 million IPO Wealth fund is a failed Ponzi scheme as he fights the appointment of a provisional liquidator to the fund.
Court documents sought to be kept confidential in a case alleging professional misconduct against barrister Norman O’Bryan SC in his role as counsel for a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities accuse the top silk of continuing to have an interest in the funder that bankrolled the proceedings after his wife was said to have sold her shares.
A judge has rejected calls to keep confidential the details of professional misconduct claims against the funder and lawyers behind the Banksia Securities class action, in a ruling that revealed that investors of the collapsed lender could recover $30 million more if allegations against the legal team are established at trial.
The law firm facing scrutiny over its legal fees in a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities will argue that if it is found liable for any misconduct in the running of the case at an upcoming trial, the litigation funder and the barristers it briefed share in the blame.
A prominent silk deliberately misled a cost consultant retained to provide an opinion on the barrister’s fees to a court overseeing a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities, then joked about it with lawyer and litigation funder Mark Elliott, a judge has been told.
The funder behind the Banksia Securities class action has failed in a bid to have an outstanding case over legal fees and its commission sent to mediation, with a judge saying the issues for trial involve allegations against lawyers of serious misconduct not appropriate for closed-door negotiations.
The hunt for the missing Blackberry of deceased class action lawyer and funder Mark Elliott is over, and the located phone will now be examined by IT experts to see if it can be searched for potential evidence to be used as part of an investigation of alleged professional misconduct by the legal team behind a class action against failed Banksia Securities.