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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.
A recent High Court ruling that condemned communication between trial judges and barristers outside of court could have dire consequences, including further isolation for members of the bench, experts warn.
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.
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.
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 former barrister has continued to practice in local courts without a valid practising certificate, in “very serious” criminal contempt of a court-ordered injunction, the NSW Bar Association has told a court.
A PwC partner who the ATO claims was assigned to work on a matter for meat processing company JBS to bring a “cloak of legal privilege” kept a supporting role on the brief despite the company CFO’s dissatisfaction, a court has heard.
Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers used one of its legally qualified partners as a "postbox" to provide a "cloak of privilege" to work conducted for meat processing company JBS, the Commissioner of Taxation has told the Federal Court.