M6931 Legal Services

Lawyer to face tribunal

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Original article by Louise Hall
The Age – Page: 11 : 8-Sep-14

Sydney lawyer Denis Manning Anderson may have his practising certificate suspended or cancelled, or may be struck off entirely by the New South Wales (NSW) Civil & Administrative Tribunal in November 2014. The NSW Legal Services Commissioner has launched the action after the Melbourne Cricket Club found in 2013 that Anderson used a deceased person’s card to access the exclusive members’ reserve at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during Australian Football League matches

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE CRICKET CLUB, NEW SOUTH WALES LEGAL SERVICES COMMISSION, NEW SOUTH WALES. CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

ATO sights on partners with guide to income-splitting rights and wrongs

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Original article by Katherine Towers
The Australian – Page: 31 : 5-Sep-14

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a new guidance note on the practice of splitting income from a discretionary trust. The structure is becoming increasingly popular among professionals such as law firm partners, after the deregulation of the legal services market. While conceding that the method is "legally permissible", the ATO says it will monitor whether risk reviews and audits may be required

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS

Legal aid restored for family violence victims

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Original article by Jane Lee
The Age – Page: 8 : 1-Sep-14

Family Court of Australia Chief Justice Diana Bryant and others attacked a decision in 2013 by Victoria Legal Aid (VLA), triggered by budget cuts. It cancelled payments for legal assistance to those who were appearing in child custody matters, did not have a lawyer and were victims of domestic violence. VLA has now reinstated aid for cases in which the perpetrators have been found guilty of breaching an intervention order or of similar family-violence related offences

CORPORATES
VICTORIA LEGAL AID, FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA, SUNSHINE MAGISTRATES’ COURT, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTORIA INCORPORATED, WOMEN’S LEGAL SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

CBA enlists heavyweights for compo panel

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 16 : 25-Aug-14

Following a scandal over improper advice by its financial planning arm, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has formed an Independent Review Panel for the Open Advice Review Program meant to compensate affected customers. Some 400,000 clients of Commonwealth Financial Planning and Financial Wisdom from 2003 to 2012 will benefit. CBA has sought the services of a number of class action law firms on the issue, appointed ex- judges Geoffrey ­Davies and Julie Dodds-Streeton to the panel, and recruited US-based Promontory Financial Group to monitor internal processes at the bank

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, McGRATH NICOL AND PARTNERS SERVICES PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (QUEENSLAND), SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, PROMONTORY FINANCIAL GROUP LLC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, MACQUARIE PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, QUEENSLAND. PUBLIC HOSPITALS COMMISSION OF INQUIRY, QUEENSLAND. LITIGATION REFORM COMMISSION

Shake-up as accountants beef up law

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Original article by Katherine Towers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 22-Aug-14

Major accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG are increasingly diversifying into the legal services market, including in Australia. The local arm of the global PwC firm has appointed former King & Wood Mallesons managing partners Tony O’Malley and Tim Blue. The Australian tax dispute management practice leader at KPMG, Jeremy Geale, says its legal division will grow 100%-plus in the coming years, while EY Asia Pacific law leader Howard Adams says it will have recruited 200 new lawyers by mid-2015

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, McCULLOUGH ROBERTSON, DELOITTE LAWYERS PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. BOARD OF TAXATION, ENRON CORPORATION

Ruling may incite more class actions

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Original article by Marianna Papadakis,Hannah Low
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 21-Aug-14

Canada-based ­International Litigation Funding ­Partners (ILFP) is bankrolling a stockholder class action suit against Allco Finance Group. The Federal Court of Australia will on 21 August 2014 rule on whether ILFP can claim between 22.5% and 35% of any payout under the "common fund" method that covers all plaintiffs, even those who have not specifically agreed to be part of the funding arrangement. The decision will have an impact on other current class actions, involving major banks and telcos

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION FUNDING PARTNERS INCORPORATED,ALLCO FINANCE GROUP LIMITED,FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA,BENTHAM IMF LIMITED – ASX IMF,KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD,MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD,CLAIMS FUNDING AUSTRALIA PTY LTD,CLAIMS FUNDING EUROPE,NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB,SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA,MODTECH ENGINEERING PTY LTD,GPT MANAGEMENT LIMITED,UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES,KING AND WOOD MALLESONS,AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ,CITIBANK PTY LTD,WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC,AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK LIMITED,TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS,SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD,SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT,VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD,HARBOUR LITIGATION FUNDING LIMITED

Law of returns as Slater & Gordon hits $61m

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

Slater & Gordon has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 47.2% to $A61.1m, on revenue that also rose 40.4% to reach $A418.5m. The 12-month distribution has been lifted 21.2%, with the final dividend up 29.9% to $A0.05 fully-franked. MD Andrew Grech says the Australian-listed law firm is seeing a strong contribution by the recently acquired UK businesses. It will also buy Nowicki Carbone and Schultz Toomey O’Brien in Victoria and Queensland respectively, later in 2014

CORPORATES
SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, NOWICKI CARBONE AND COMPANY, SCHULTZ TOOMEY O’BRIEN LAWYERS, TRILBY MISSO LAWYERS LIMITED

Top firms see better times on the horizon

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 27-28 : 18-Jul-14

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Beaton Research + Consulting have issued their latest survey of business confidence among the leading commercial law firms. It covers the second quarter of calendar 2014, and 31 firms with total revenue of $A3.6bn per annum. Among the findings are that the net ratio of firms seeing conditions as negative has fallen to 23% from 28%, but that among top-tier providers the drop has been from 50% to just 14%. Out of 15 practice areas looked at by the research, an improvement is forecast for 13

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BEATON RESEARCH AND CONSULTING PTY LTD

Lawyer banned over harassment

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Original article by Jane Lee
The Age – Page: 3 : 11-Jul-14

Judge Pamela Jenkins, vice-president of the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal, has imposed an eight-month practising ban on a lawyer. He had earlier been convicted of sexually harassing a female trainee, and in 2013 was ordered to pay her compensation for loss, damage and injury of $A100,000. An additional penalty announced by Jenkins is that the lawyer not employ or supervise female students or law graduates for a two-year period, starting when he again takes up practice

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

Fee cap will worsen pain for motorists, warn lawyers

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 8 : 30-Jun-14

The Motor Accidents Authority in New South Wales (NSW) has issued a proposal to reduce the maximum fees that can be charged by lawyers lodging claims under the Green Slip Insurance Scheme on behalf of injured motorists. The measure could be enabled by the State Government via regulation, meaning no new legislation is needed. NSW Law Society president Ros Everett warns that the planned capped fees will not cover solicitors’ costs, and that as a result many who have suffered traffic accident injuries will have no option but to represent themselves

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. MOTOR ACCIDENTS AUTHORITY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF FINANCE AND SERVICES, THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES