Last year brought economic growth and success for law firms, but 2021 was not only marked with good news. A slew of law firms were dragged into litigation by disgruntled ex-clients, with some paying out millions of dollars to resolve lawsuits accusing them of giving bad advice.
An appeals court has upheld a ruling that Sydney law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell was not entitled to the bulk of $165,000 in legal fees charged to two media company clients defrauded by jailed former solicitor Brody Clarke, calling the firm’s attempt to renege on its undertakings “dishonourable”.
Cricket Australia must hand over documents to Seven West Media as the TV network weighs potential legal action for damages against the league over the quality of the 2020-2021 summer cricket season.
A former CEO of a global pharmaceutical company has lost his appeal of a ruling throwing out a lawsuit he brought against his former employer after he was terminated in the wake of accusations that he harassed staff and using a syringe to stab multiple employees.
Law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell has failed to postpone its appeal of a ruling over unpaid legal fees until after its senior counsel — who is stuck in London — can get a COVID-19 vaccine and return to Australia.
While there was no shortage of pain and challenges for law firms as the coronavirus raged across the globe last year, a number of big firms also felt the sting of litigation from disgruntled clients, partners and employees.
The managing partner of a high-profile Sydney law firm has told the barrister cross-examining him that the word menstrual means “monthly” in Latin, when explaining an email in which he slammed the firm’s former general manager’s practice of billing clients on a “menstrual based cycle”.
Lawyer John Atanaskovic, the founded of Sydney firm Atanaskovic Hartnell, could come across as “rude” but he was other times a “model of civility and subordinance”, former equity partner Tony Hartnell has told a court during trial in a case by a former general manager alleging bullying and breach of contract.
A former general manager suing law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell has amended her pleadings as trial in her case resumes Friday, expanding her claims and including details of an email in which the firm’s managing partner allegedly slammed her practice of billing clients on a “menstrual based cycle”.
Atanaskovic Hartnell has mostly come up short in a court battle for over $172,000 in legal fees, with a judge finding the law firm was in a “manifest position of conflict” in its dispute with two media companies defrauded by one of its former lawyers, Brody Clarke.