In a long-wnded way, I tentatively suggest that, so long as the applicant has the sense to invoke s. 108 of the Fair Trading Act, 1999, then penalty interest is available under the Supreme Court Act, 1986, just like in the Supreme Court, so long as the dispute is a consumer-trader dispute. That is, a [...]

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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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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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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 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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Update, February 2008: the rate has increased from 8.75% to 9%.  For more, see this post.
Original post: Since 6 December 2007, the maximum interest chargeable on bills has dropped from 12% (the penalty interest rate) to 8.75% (the Reserve Bank Target Rate +2%), and the period of non-payment after which you can begin charging [...]

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Update, 8 February 2008: from 5 February, the rate has been increased to 7%, so on bills from then on, interest at the rate of 9% per annum may be claimed so long as the bill states that that is the rate which will accrue. Remember, interest accrues on post-4 February bills at 9% and [...]

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Under Victoria's Legal Profession Act, 2004 the most apparently draconian consequences follow for the slightest non-compliance with any of the elaborate pre-retainer disclosures required to be made by solicitors. Under s. 3.4.17, if the lawyer has not disclosed something required by the relevant bit of the Act to be disclosed:

the client 'need not pay [...]

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Update: 6 January 2008: Pinna v Kuek [1999] VSC 204 is a decision about the correlative section under s. 107, Legal Practice Act, 1996, which said (2) A bill of costs - (a) must be signed by - (i) the legal practitioner…'. O'Bryan J held that a letter signed by the legal practitioner enclosing [...]

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