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Small firm dragged to court by vexatious litigant
A Melbourne family law firm fought against allegations it was negligent by not advising a client against filing proceedings.
Naomi Neilson
Boutique firm Brendan Rothschild Legal Group was dragged before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last month by Fima Pekar, who had been found to be a vexatious litigant by two federal courts in July 2017 and 2021.
He claimed $13,640 in damages, including the $5,000 the Magistrates Court ordered him to pay and the $4,209 in legal costs.
The firm’s principal, Brendan Rothschild, told VCAT he could not have advised Pekar against lodging the proceedings because Pekar did it himself three months before they first met.
Rothschild added he could not advise Pekar about his prospects of success because Pekar misrepresented what the proceedings were, did not provide further details, and was unable to be contacted.
Pekar was also a “serial litigator”, having been the subject of a vexatious litigant declaration in the Federal Circuit Court and vexatious proceeding orders in the Federal Court of Australia.
“The above cases were a concern in light of the misconceptions and potential abuse of process also evidenced in this proceeding,” Wentworth said in her written reasons for judgment.
When the timing of the lodgement was raised with Pekar, he told Wentworth the statement of claim was about “numerous errors”.
In addition to striking out the proceedings, Wentworth made an order that any future application made by Pekar against the firm or Rothschild should be referred to the principal registrar for review before it can be accepted for filing.
The case is Pekar v Brendan Rothschild Legal Group (Legal Practice) [2024] VCAT 897 (20 September 2024).
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
