Update, 26 June 2008: The managing partner of the controversial NSW personal injury practice referred to below was fined $10,000 by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal's Legal Services List for advertising in contravention of conduct rules despite a prior warning from the Legal Services Commissioner.  One wonders whether any enquiry was entered into about how much [...]

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Slobodan Catovic did not want to pay his solicitor's bill. He misconceivedly invoked the Legal Profession Act, 2004 provision which allows clients to apply to set aside costs agreements, but that is not what he wanted to do. Senior Member Howell satisfied himself that Mr Catovic had intended to bring an application under [...]

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This post is like a case book(let) rather than a text. It sets out the raw materials which bear upon the question of who as between solicitor and client owns (in the sense of is entitled to the original of) what documents typically found in a solicitor's file. It is very long, and largely unsummarised: [...]

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This post is a companion to this longer companion post which discusses the other cases on the question of who, as between solicitor and client, is entitled to documents relating to their matter found on solicitors' files and in their accounts. As the decision with the most detailed consideration of the question, it gets [...]

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Chakera v Kuzamanovic [2003] VSC 92 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria's Justice Nettle in relation to the effect of a default under the costs disclosure regime under the Legal Practice Act, 1996. It stands for the proposition that in the case of complete non-compliance with the costs disclosure regime, the [...]

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To what extent can you defend a suit by your solicitor for fees and then turn around after settlement, or after the trial of that suit, and sue for negligence? The leading Victorian case on the question is Delahunty v Howell, unreported, Supreme Court of Victoria, Gray J, 12 May 1993 (BC9300688). It was [...]

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I was drinking beer at The Peacock the other afternoon, and a VCAT member was muttering about the Supreme Court overturning VCAT decisions on the basis that applications for adjournment were not granted when they could have been cured by an order for costs. The suggestion was that the Court may have overlooked the [...]

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Praag v W & T Lawyers [2008] VCAT 307 was a rare thing: a case in VCAT's Legal Practice List actually prosecuted pursuant to the Legal Profession Act, 2004. Mr Praag was his late mother's executor. Before her death, she lived in Canberra. Her assets were a house in Canberra and [...]

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The other day, I did a very geeky thing which was also a bit unonline. I had a coffee with fellow lawyer blogger, the mysterious Legal Eagle. One result of the coffee was that somehow I charmed her into writing a second case note of interest to readers of this blog — this [...]

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The Sydney Morning Herald reports plans by the NSW Attorney General to cap fees proportionately to the amount at stake. The article is a bit light on what that means exactly, but the Law Society of NSW President purported to welcome the changes.

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