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Law Society blocks client from $80k Fidelity Fund after alleging fraud
A client of a now-collapsed law firm is seeking an $80,000 Fidelity Fund over allegations his legal requests were not met, but the Law Society of NSW has attempted to prevent the money from being paid and has filed a motion seeking they continue on pleadings.
Naomi Neilson
A client of SHS Law has claimed that approximately $80,000 was provided to the legal firm for advice and assistance in obtaining a visa and supporting his business, but only $22,000 was returned to him when he requested the money back on the grounds that the firm had provided “inadequate services” in the lead-up to its collapse.
The Supreme Court deliberated on whether to allow the motion to continue considering the two competing concerns to allow it to proceed. The first is on whether ordering the pleading would involve the visiting of the parties of a disproportionate cost if the case goes forward, given that $58,000 is already in dispute as a “modest sum”.
More importantly, the court said the “real factual issues” appear to come out of various responses that the Law Society has to the client’s claim on the Fidelity Fund. The court said it is “very much in the interests of the parties, and especially the plaintiff, that their issues be identified and crystalised in a pleading”.
The Supreme Court has allowed the client a short period of time to either supplement or confirm the pleaded claim and then order the Law Society to respond with a detailed pleading to allow the isolation of the factual issues in dispute.
In an entirely separate issue, the chief executive of SHS Law was ordered to repay $430,000 in shares for fraudulently misleading an investor about the firm’s success.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
