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.
Maurice Blackburn has come up short in its challenge to a multimillion dollar tax bill for a record settlement payout in the Black Saturday bushfire class actions.
Vocational education provider Box Hill Insitute must notify current students that their aviation course is the subject of a class action, which claims the licences students obtained through the institute did not provide them with the requisite knowledge or training to obtain a commercial pilots licence.
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.
Two barristers facing professional misconduct allegations in relation to the Banksia securities class action submitted more than $2.65 million in legal bills without documentation more than five years after the class action was filed and may have done so at the behest of funder Mark Elliott, a court has heard.
The litigation funder controlled by recently deceased class action lawyer Mark Elliott has lost its bid for a 12.5 per cent commission of a $5.5 million settlement secured by the special purpose receivers of Banksia Securities in its claim against the collapsed firm’s former insurance broker.
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.