The legal watchdog in Victoria will be asked to probe potential misconduct against the legal team behind the controversial Banksia Securities class action for their fees in a separate class action, which last year settled for $40 million.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is seeking a contempt finding against a former solicitor for defunct vocational trainer Empower Institute over alleged billing practices.
A judge has sentenced a Melbourne-based lawyer to six years in prison for stealing and misusing over $1.7 million in client funds, saying his conduct had “brought the legal profession into disrepute”.
The High Court’s abolition of the so-called Chorley exception, which allowed self-represented lawyers to recover their own expenses, also extends to incorporated legal practices through which a sole practitioner operates, a court has found.
Two former clients of Johnson Winter & Slattery cannot split a trial in their negligence proceeding against the law firm and have had a subpoena set aside as “vexatious, oppressive and unfair”.
Three Sydney-based law firms are now facing claims by Australian-Chinese investors seeking over $6 million in damages for allegedly negligent advice provided about investment properties developed by the now collapsed Ralan Group.
A Sydney criminal barrister is challenging a ruling that she engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct by performing unnecessary work for her client and threatening to cancel a visit to see him in prison unless his father coughed up $5,000 first.
An IOOF subsidiary has appealed a $76.6 million judgment finding it breached its duty in the sale of a 46,000 hectare plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group and shooting down its cross claim seeking to pass liability onto law firm Sparke Helmore.
A court has slashed the costs awarded to a Tucker & Cowen name partner in a lawsuit brought by the liquidators of failed fund manager Equititrust, citing a recent High Court ruling that found self-represented lawyers cannot recover their own expenses.
Law firm Thomson Geer is facing a negligence lawsuit by a commercial property investment firm over advice it gave in relation to a $120 million Melbourne car park acquisition.