Law firm Colin Biggers & Paisley has pulled off a merger in the middle of lockdown, acquiring a Melbourne law firm that will boost its partner count by six.
The solicitor behind the successful challenge to the claim for ill-gotten spoils by the Banksia Securities class action legal team says he draws little comfort from the conclusion by the judge who strongly condemned the misconduct that the legal system is capable of regulating itself. More needs to be done to root out the systemic causes of the arrogance on display in the case, he says.
This week’s judgment referring the conduct of lawyers behind the Banksia class action to prosecutors shows the effectiveness of unique legislative provisions in Victoria that should serve as a blueprint for federal reform, says barrister and University of New South Wales adjunct professor Dr Peter Cashman.
Independent Australian law firm Hall & Wilcox has nabbed “high calibre” employment lawyers from Corrs Chambers Westgarth and King & Wood Mallesons as it seeks to expand its presence in Western Australia.
Lawyers running the scandal-ridden Banksia class action have been struck from the roll of practitioners, will face criminal investigation and must pay group members $11.7 million in damages.
It has been described as the darkest chapter in Victoria’s legal history, an exemplar of all that is terrible with class actions in Australia. A case of greedy lawyers who found their golden egg in a group of retirees who had lost their life savings, never thinking the chickens might come home to roost. Until now.
An appeals court hearing the case of a barrister who allegedly made a sexual comment to a clerk while intoxicated at a dinner following a legal industry event has questioned how a professional reprimand can serve a protective purpose if the person remains unnamed.
The Victorian Bar has urged barristers to remain vigilant and get vaccinated against COVID-19 after Owen Dixon Chambers East was named as an exposure site.
Trial judges should not communicate with barristers outside of court, the High Court has ruled in a “troubling” case of apprehended bias that saw a divorcee’s counsel socialising with the judge presiding over her long-running and “tortured” Family Law case.
A Sydney solicitor accused of stealing over $130,000 from a client and doctoring five invoices has lost a bid to pause the NSW Law Society’s suspension of her certificate after a judge found there was a “very significant” risk of harm to the public if she continued to practice.