The son of controversial class action lawyer Mark Elliott has hired a big gun barrister to represent him in the Banksia class action proceedings and will be asking the judge overseeing the case against him to step aside.
Lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of the funder behind the Banksia Securities class action, has been ordered to give a “full, frank and honest” explanation of his role in an alleged fraudulent scheme to inflate legal fees in the case, and he risks his career if he’s not forthcoming.
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.
Disgraced senior counsel Norman O’Bryan and the son of deceased lawyer Mark Elliott are among the targets of a summons for $7 million in legal bills racked up in the fight over commission and costs in the Banksia Securities class action, a fight that has already claimed the career of O’Bryan and another barrister.
The solicitor on the record in a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities has admitted that he never asked to see the fee slips of one of the barristers acting in the case, conceding that this was a ‘gross dereliction’ to his clients.
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 “dogsbody” of funder Mark Elliott during a fiery cross examination at trial over the costs of the litigation.
A week after silk Norman O’Bryan 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 practitioners’ roll.
A judge has slugged the Australia Workers’ Union with a $148,100 fine for artificially boosting member numbers in what he said was a “serious departure” from the record-keeping standards required by registered organisations under the Fair Work Act.
A BP worker whose employment was reinstated after he was unfairly dismissed for sharing a video clip that included subtitles placed over a scene from the movie ‘Downfall’ about Adolf Hitler, has been awarded $201,000 in lost wages and superannuation.
Barrister Norman O’Bryan has accepted that he should be struck from the roll of legal practitioners after dropping his defence mid-trial against claims of professional misconduct as senior counsel for a class action financed by the late Mark Elliott, but the consequences for the once high-flying silk might not end there.