Listed law company has enjoyed outstanding organic growth

SLATER & Gordon has just about completed three years as a listed company and managing director Andrew Grech says he's enjoying the journey.

Barrister gets the better of Bendigo Bank

A LEGAL ruling over a multimillion-dollar margin call on a Sydney barrister by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has raised doubts about the bank's right to make demands on as many as 18,500 of its margin-loan customers.

Big tobacco and its posse still in the saddle after eight long years

It was Christmas Eve and just as Santa was preparing to squeeze down millions of chimneys, the Victorian Supreme Court delivered a beautifully wrapped present to famous tobacco litigant Rolah McCabe.

CSR offers reassurance

CSR directors were "very confident" the company's asbestos liabilities would be honoured if it split into two companies next year, chief executive Jerry Maycock said yesterday.

CSR rejects compo fears

THE directors of CSR were "very confident" the company's asbestos liabilities would be honoured if it split in two companies next year, the chief executive, Jerry Maycock, said yesterday.

New judges appointed

TWO senior Melbourne barristers with decades of experience in diverse legal fields have been appointed judges of the County Court. Attorney-General Rob Hulls said James Montgomery, SC, and James Parrish, SC, would make a significant contribution to Victoria's justice system.

Ad ban to target personal injury lawyers

PERSONAL injury law firms, sometimes derided as the "ambulance chasers" of the legal profession, are using a variety of tricks to exploit loopholes in NSW laws banning them from advertising their services.

Solicitor banned for six years for 'phoenix' deals

A North Sydney solicitor who helped clients strip assets from their companies before liquidating them has been banned from company directorship for six years. Timothy Somerville was found liable earlier this month for involvement in breaches of the Corporations Act by eight clients whom he advised on "phoenix activity" for 15 companies.

Like the Dickens seven years in court at $15m, in search of an apology

Despite frequent pleas for cheaper, more streamlined litigation that come from chief justices, attorneys-general and assorted concerned mouthpieces, it is comforting to know that the slow and expensive model of fighting in court is far from dead. Dr Angus Mackinnon

Richo future decided at end of year

AT A function for Richmond past players yesterday, the AFL's oldest current gladiator, Matthew Richardson, suggested he might not yet be ready to join their number.

Regulator to probe Keddies conduct

DISCIPLINARY proceedings have been launched against three partners and a senior lawyer at Keddies, the state's largest personal injury firm, for unsatisfactory or professional misconduct.

Keddies Case Not 'complex Or Difficult'

THE head of Sydney law firm Stacks/Goudkamp has described as "extraordinary" the $261,634.99 charged by the state's largest specialised personal injury law firm, Keddies Lawyers, for a case involving an amputee motorcyclist that was neither complex nor difficult.

Treatment Of The Injured 'ridiculous, Unjust'

THE shadow attorney-general, Greg Smith, said it was "ridiculous" and "unjust" for injured people to lose large amounts of compensation payouts on legal fees. He made the comments in relation to claims that the state's largest personal injury law firm, Keddies, has overcharged some clients.

Injury Law Reforms Fail On Premiums: States

SWEEPING national changes to personal injury law have not delivered promised falls in insurance premiums and might never, the states say.

Tax On Personal Injury Awards

The Federal Court decision on August 21 that pre-judgment interest awards in personal injury cases are liable to income tax is a further burden on seriously injured people who are least able to pay additional taxation. The rate of interest allowed by judges on awards for pain and suffering is sig