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.
Barrister Norman O’Bryan SC has abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the Banksia Securities class action and expressed contrition to the court for his actions.
Two barristers facing professional misconduct allegations in relation to the Banksia securities class action submitted more than $2.65 million in legal bills without documentation more than five years after the class action was filed and may have done so at the behest of funder Mark Elliott, a court has heard.
Two investors in failed Great Southern Group managed investment schemes have lost their latest appeal over a controversial class action settlement deed that allowed Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to enforce loans issued to fund their investments. But a third borrower, who denied he was a member of the class action, has been given the greenlight to defend the bank’s recovery proceedings.
An appeals court has upheld a ruling that found two firms previously run by Joseph “Diamond Joe” Gutnik and his family were insolvent, ending a long-running battle over hundreds of millions of dollars in mining assets.
A judge overseeing a settled class action against failed Banksia Securities has rejected an application to limit a contradictor’s investigation of alleged professional misconduct on the part of the legal team and funder behind the case, saying he was satisfied there was a proper basis for the allegations.
A judge has removed the funder and law firm leading the Banksia Securities class action from their roles supervising a proposed settlement distribution scheme after the funder was accused of intimidation, a lack of experience and charging excessive costs.
The applicants in a class action against Navra Group have dropped their case after group members settled their claims in a separate proceeding with the defunct financial planner’s liquidators.
An appeals court has ordered a phosphate mining company owned by mining magnate Joseph Gutnik to pay back more than $225,000 owed to the Queensland state government or face immediate liquidation, accusing the company of showing a “cavalier attitude” towards earlier orders made by the court.
An appeals court has dashed the hopes of three group members of a resolved class action over managed investment schemes operated by agribusiness Great Southern Group who sought more time to appeal approval of the settlement deed, which put them on the hook for repaying their loans to Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.