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Decades-long legal battle against 4 firms and a judge ends
The Federal Court has put an end to a long legal dispute that saw the operator of a Hobart nursing home slam four law firms and a lawyer-turned-Supreme Court judge for professional negligence and other damages, respectively.
Naomi Neilson
Derwent Court, a Hobart-based nursing home, once housed aged care residents in a big, heritage-listed mansion but it was promptly shut down following the federal government decision to withdraw its approval and funding. In response, a long legal dispute began.
Jadwan alleged the respondents had failed to advise it of the available steps after funding and approval was revoked, pursuant to the National Health Act. According to the Federal Court of Australia documents released this week, the operator alleged it lost entitlements as a result of the decision and disabled it from becoming an approved provider of care.
Later, Jadwan filed proceedings against firm Worsley Darcey for a lost opportunity to take action against David Porter QC, who at the time was instructed by Melbourne solicitor Stephen Wicks to assist the nursing home. Now, Mr Porter is a Supreme Court judge in Tasmania.
Jadwan’s original damages claim was dismissed, but it mounted another complex appeal that was eventually heard before a full bench in the Federal Court in 2018.
However, 2020’s Federal Court judges David O’Callaghan, Robert Bromwich and Michael Wheelahan dismissed the appeal, finding that even if Jadwan had been given “reasonable and prudent advice”, it hadn’t established it would apply for an injunction or become at all approved as an aged care provider under care services legislation.
“Jadwan has not persuaded us that on the assumption it received reasonable and prudent advice from its legal [advisers that] it would have decided to continue to operate Derwent Court and to seek an injunction to enjoin the [minister] from revoking its approval,” said the Federal Court judges. “It is unnecessary for the [court] to make any further findings.”
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
