In Legal Services Commissioner v MG [2007] VCAT 1491, the lawyer failed to respond to letters demanding a written response to a complaint by another lawyer. The Commissioner wrote on 18 January 2007, 16 February 2007, 23 March 2007 and 1 April 2007. In other words, a complaint, quite possibly lodged last year, [...]

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Melbourne's Justice Middleton has dished out some serious interpretation of the Victorian and federal proportionate liability regimes and, what's even more useful, their interrelationship, in Dartberg Pty Ltd v Wealthcare Financial Planning Pty Ltd [2007] FCA 1216, a decision at an early stage of the proceedings. It is a classy judgment in a matter [...]

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In Woods v De Gabriele [2007] VSC 177, Justice Hollingworth has tentatively unpicked some difficult parts of the federal and Victorian proportionate liability provisions in Part IVAA of the Wrongs Act, 1958 (the relevant provisions are here), and in the Corporations Act, 2001 (Cth) and Australian Securities and Investments Act, 2001 (Cth) Division 2, Subdivision [...]

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I know for a fact that the profession does not understand the extent of the advocates' immunity which is set out in the decision of the majority in D'Orta-Ekenaike v Victoria Legal Aid [2005] 223 CLR 1. Not uncommonly I see lawyers' negligence claims arising out of litigation being defended without claiming the immunity, [...]

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This is a workmanlike little post, designed simply to trap into the world of this blog for when I need them next in court the legal principles discussed in Acting President Bowman's decision in ZGW v Legal Services Board [2007] VCAT 1406, casenoted in the previous post. The parties' arguments are also reproduced below [...]

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Update, 21 August 2007: Latest case on the implied undertaking:  Street v Hearne [2007] NSWCA 113.
When a person comes into possession of documents through legal compulsion, they are under an implied obligation not to use them for any purpose but the purpose for which the compulsion operates. Most lawyers know the rule insofar as [...]

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Here's a link to a little article on the law relating to the possible conflicts of duties faced by a lawyer retained by a liability insurer to act for its insured in the defence of proceedings against the insured. It discusses 3 English cases:

Brown v Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance;
TSB Bank v Robert Irvin; and
Zurich Professional [...]

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Freshfields used to be Marks & Spencer's go-to lawyers. Then they fell out of favour a bit. But they were still acting for Marks 'n' Sparks on one relatively small contract. A key partner then decided to accept instructions to act for a consortium trying to take over the supermarket chain. If the takeover [...]

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In Ralph Cosentino v MY [2007] VCAT 1319, Member Butcher continued a tradition of statutory interpretation of a little technical provision about when service of statutory notices is effective. That tradition, of the Legal Profession Tribunal and its predecessors, has always troubled me. Though it does not seem to have been cited by counsel,  a [...]

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The Legal Services Commissioner, Victoria Marles, is to speak at the Australian Legal Practice Management Association's conference in Melbourne on 26 October 2007. I feel for her, with the 4 p.m. Friday shift. With her NSW counterpart Steve Mark, she will speak on what is left to do in creating a truly national [...]

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