The son of controversial funder and lawyer Mark Elliott has been joined to proceedings alleging the lawyers behind the Banksia Securities class action conspired to pocket excessive fees in the case, after a court heard there was a “litany” of evidence he was party to the alleged fraudulent scheme.
A judge has appointed provisional liquidators to investment firm Mayfair 101 and has banned director James Mawhinney from transferring any assets out of Australia, after the corporate regulator told the court Mawhinney could face criminal charges.
An independent costs consultant retained to assess the legal fees sought to be recouped from a settlement in a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities has denied he was the âdogsbodyâ of funder Mark Elliott during a fiery cross examination at trial over the costs of the litigation.
A week after silk Norman OâBryan dropped his defence against allegations of misconduct in the running of a class action over the failure of Banksia Securities, his junior counsel, Michael Symons, has also conceded defeat, telling a court he too should be struck off the practitionersâ roll.Â
A former QRx Pharma director’s prediction that shareholders would not receive “anything of consequence” from a class action settlement has proven true, with only a small slice of the $7 million settlement expected to go to shareholders.
A judge has refused to recuse himself from a stoush between litigation funder Vannin Capital and Clive Palmerâs companies over the appointment of a barrister in a claim springing from the long-running Queensland Nickel liquidation case.
Receivers appointed in the wake of the collapse of Banksia Securities may seek costs orders against the estate of deceased funder and class action lawyer Mark Elliott, a court has heard. Meanwhile, the Victorian Bar says it has âevery confidence in the judicial processâ after senior counsel Norman OâBryan yesterday abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the case.
Barrister Norman O’Bryan SC has abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the Banksia Securities class action and expressed contrition to the court for his actions.
The judge overseeing a trial over legal fees and funding commission in the Banksia Securities class action has questioned whether the lawyers behind the case should remain on the roll of practitioners if allegations of misconduct aired in the hearing so far — which include billing for phantom costs — are made out.
Liquidators for collapsed steel and mining giant Arrium have successfully appealed a court ruling permitting the examination of a former director for a possible shareholder class action, with the Court of Appeal for the NSW Supreme Court finding the “private nature” of the claims was an abuse of process.