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Compensation firm dragged into ‘hopeless’ fight over fees
An NSW man has pursued a “hopeless” allegation that his former firm wrongfully caused him to become bankrupt.
Naomi Neilson
James Batterham unsuccessfully alleged his former firm, Turner Freeman Lawyers, and three of its partners knowingly created a false amended costs assessment application for unpaid counsel fees and submitted this for a costs assessment in their favour.
Mr Batterham was discharged from bankruptcy in December 2017.
This argument was shut down by Justice Julia Lonergan in June this year, having found that the claims were duplicated from Mr Batterham’s unsuccessful action against Clayton Utz, which had represented him prior to Turner Freeman Lawyers.
Justice Lonergan also found the cause of action was “hopeless” and had been “both vexatious and an abuse of process because it sought to relitigate issues which had been ‘comprehensively considered and determined’” in the action against Clayton Utz.
Mr Batterham sought leave to appeal on the grounds that Justice Lonergan failed to address and misconceived his complaint, but Justice Richard White and acting Justice John Griffiths of the NSW Court of Appeal found it “has no basis [and] is not even barely arguable”.
Turner Freeman Lawyers also pointed out in its response that while Mr Batterham made repeated references to an “error” in Justice Lonergan’s decision, “no error of law or fact was identified”.
“The applicant had not identified any issues of principle or any question of general public importance, nor identified any error on the part of the primary judge which warrants a grant of leave.
“The applicant also did not raise any matter relating to the primary judgment which is beyond what is merely arguable,” Justice White and acting Justice Griffiths found in their written reasons.
They found that none of Mr Batterham’s grounds were sufficiently arguable to warrant a leave to appeal being granted.
“These matters serve to underline why the doctrine of res judicata applies in the applicant’s case,” Justice White and acting Justice Griffiths concluded.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
