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.
After more than a year-and-a-half of virtual trials, Australia’s barristers have adapted and come up with the best techniques to maintain an edge when cross-examining witnesses in the virtual courtroom.
Slater & Gordon has been hit with a lawsuit filed by a former client who alleges the plaintiffs law firm’s conduct prevented him from suing the federal government for psychiatric injuries suffered at the Manus Island refugee processing centre.