Category: Legal Profession
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Onus of proving a solicitor’s retainer: Burton v Babb
Burton v Babb [2023] NSWCA 242 The party challenging a legal practitioner’s retainer bears the onus of proving that the legal practitioner has not been retained. However, depending on the quality of the challenger’s evidence, an evidentiary onus may move to the legal practitioner in relation to particular factual issues: Hawksford v Hawksford [2005] NSWSC 463; (2005) 191 FLR 173 at [55] (Campbell…
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Application for itemised bill of costs from previous solicitors — Application for declaration that costs assessment application is just and fair — TROUBLING ASPECTS
Benton v CMC Lawyers Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 1548 74. Seventh, whilst I accept that the bifurcation between solicitor and barrister in New South Wales has reduced, and is reducing, markedly, the structure whereby Mr Quinlivan rendered a separate memorandum of fees to CMC, whilst in fact employed by it, must be assessed as unorthodox.…
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State of mind and implied waiver of client legal privilege
when is a party’s state of mind sufficiently in issue for legal advice potentially informing that state of mind to be disclosable as having lost privilege by implied waiver
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Solicitors, fiduciary duties, retainers and contributory negligence
Rahme v Benjamin & Khoury Pty Ltd [2019] NSWCA 211 In relation to Question 1: By signing the costs agreements with B&K, Mrs Rahme agreed to pay B&K’s past and future fees for it acting on her behalf as solicitor for the plaintiffs in the Bevillesta proceedings and she agreed to give security for that…
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Solicitor's duties: retainer etc
TORTS — Negligence — Professional Negligence — Solicitor and Client — No formal retainer TORTS — Negligence — Professional Negligence — Solicitor and Client — No formal retainer — the plaintiff solicitor alleged that the defendant solicitor failed to advise the plaintiff about personal mortgages in various loan agreements — the plaintiff has not established…
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12 tips to going paperless
Yet, believe it or not, going paperless is easier than you think. What used to be a more expensive and time-consuming option has now, thanks to hundreds of companies who have rethought old ways of working, become a valid option to actually start saving time, money and the environment. Sounds tempting, right?
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Professional liability, limitation periods and summary dismissal
(1) The respondent’s causes of action accrued once the impact of the settlement of the first WC claim became “known or apparent”. According to his pleaded and particularised case, that occurred on or around the date of his knee surgery in November 2007, at which time he suffered measurable damage for the purposes of both his…
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Service of later medical reports
ROFESSIONAL CONDUCT – LAWYERS – Where first defendant’s solicitors failed to serve a supplementary medical report until day before trial – whether statements made to and correspondence with other parties in relation to report was misleading – solicitors subject to a duty not to make misleading statements to other parties – whether affidavit of defendant’s…
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Solicitor's duty beyond the retainer
AS BANNISTER & ORS v SIRROM ENTERPRISES PTY LTD [2016] SASCFC 153 85. The extent to which the duty requires a solicitor to advise on matters beyond a client’s express instructions is problematic. In Micarone v Perpetual Trustees Australia Ltd,[1] Debelle and Wicks JJ identified the scope of a solicitor’s duty of care as follows:[2]