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Two lawyers who plotted to relieve bondholders Banksia of a payment by the court by concocting a class action “flagrant and fraudulent” declared bankruptcy after being ordered to pay millions in damages. Former QC Norman O’Bryan and attorney Michael Symons filed for bankruptcy after Judge John Dixon ruled they were liable as part of a group of lawyers who crafted a class action lawsuit for s ‘enrich by’ intending to claim more than $ 19 million in alleged legal fees and commission to fund the settlement sum in class proceedings. The decision to file for bankruptcy will frustrate Banksia investors even more, after years of complicated and slow legal maneuvers on the part of the defense teams of lawyers. According to the legal affairs website Lawyerly, neither of the attorneys nor AFP have assets in their name to pay “a significant portion of the $ 11.7 million awarded to class members or legal costs,” which total at least $ 10 million “. The special receivers have sought confirmation from the attorneys ‘professional liability insurer, the Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee (LPLC), that it will award them compensation for the amounts owed. It is understood that the LPLC has so far paid $ 3 million on behalf of O’Bryan and Symons, but receivers could have a fight to recover the entire judgment from the insurer, ”wrote Christine Caulfield, editor-in-chief of Lawyerly. Debentureholder attorney Keith Pitman said LPLC attorneys to date have confirmed that professional liability insurance of $ 3,0127,738.96 will be paid: $ 1,558,191.39 on behalf of O’Bryan and $ 1,454,547.54 on behalf of Symons. “But that’s just under half a cent on the dollar – a far cry from the nearly $ 20 million ordered by Justice Dixon,” said Mr. Pitman The attorneys – O’Bryan, Symons, Anthony Zita, Alex Elliott and the late Peter Trimbos – formed or f Were part of a funder called Australian Funding Partners Limited (AFPL), along with another deceased lawyer, Mark Elliott. As members of the AFPL, it turned out that the quinumvirate had colluded to win more than a quarter of Banksia Investors’ likely settlement, in the order of $ 20 million, by charging candidates dramatically inflated fees, deceiving judges and hiding conflicts of interest. READ MORE: In a scathing court judgment in October, lawyers acted not only against the interests of their clients, but to the detriment of Victoria’s Law. “AFP, Alex Elliott, the lawyers and Mr. Trimbos all sailed together in a flotilla throughout this litigation, until they collapsed like wrecks over their misconduct and deception,” said lawyers for Banksia investors. “They were a tight-knit group of scoundrels, working together on many cases during the eight-year period of this litigation.” Dixon J. ordered that the defendants be removed from or justify their refusal to do so, and returned the reasons for judgment and the trial record to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Banksia Securities collapsed in October 2012, owing millions of dollars to investors, many retirees from regional and rural communities in Victoria, with significant numbers in Ballarat. At the time of its collapse, Banksia owed approximately $ 663 million to approximately 15,622 debentureholders and had 956 loans outstanding to third party borrowers, for a total of approximately $ 527 million. Have you signed up for the Courier’s variety of news emails? You can sign up below and make sure you are up to date with everything that is happening at Ballarat. If you see this post, you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier because we have made this story accessible only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and for allowing us to continue telling the Ballarat story. We appreciate your support for journalism in our great city.

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Two lawyers who plotted to relieve bondholders Banksia of a payment by the court by concocting a class action “flagrant and fraudulent” declared bankruptcy after being ordered to pay millions in damages.

Former QC Norman O’Bryan and attorney Michael Symons filed for bankruptcy after Judge John Dixon ruled they were liable as a member of a group of lawyers who crafted a class action lawsuit for s ‘enrich by’ intending to claim more than $ 19 million in alleged legal fees and commission to fund the settlement sum in class proceedings. “

The decision to file for bankruptcy will frustrate Banksia investors even more, after years of complicated and slow legal maneuvers by the defense teams of lawyers.

According to the legal affairs website Lawyerly, neither of the attorneys nor AFP have assets in their name to pay “a significant portion of the $ 11.7 million awarded to class members or the costs of the proceedings,” which total at least $ 10 million “.

The special receivers have sought confirmation from the attorneys ‘professional liability insurer, the Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee (LPLC), that it will award them compensation for the amounts owed. It is understood that the LPLC has so far paid $ 3 million on behalf of O’Bryan and Symons, but receivers could have a fight to recover the entire judgment from the insurer, ”wrote Christine Caulfield, editor-in-chief of Lawyerly.

Counsel for the debentureholders, Keith Pitman, said LPLC’s attorneys to date have confirmed that professional liability insurance of $ 3,0127,738.96 will be paid: $ 1,558,191.39 on behalf of O ‘Bryan and $ 1,454,547.54 on behalf of Symons.

“But that’s just under half a dime on the dollar – a far cry from the nearly $ 20 million ordered by Judge Dixon,” Pitman said.

Ditchy’s sight.

The lawyers – O’Bryan, Symons, Anthony Zita, Alex Elliott and the late Peter Trimbos – were or were part of a funder called Australian Funding Partners Limited (AFPL), along with another late lawyer, Mark Elliott.

As members of the AFPL, it turned out that the quinumvirate had colluded to win more than a quarter of Banksia Investors’ likely settlement, in the order of $ 20 million, by charging candidates dramatically inflated fees, deceiving judges and hiding conflicts of interest.

In a scathing court judgment in October, lawyers were found guilty of acting not only against the interests of their clients, but to the detriment of Victoria Law.

“AFP, Alex Elliott, the lawyers and Mr. Trimbos all sailed together in a flotilla throughout this litigation, until they collapsed like wrecks over their misconduct and deception,” said lawyers for Banksia investors.

“They were a tight-knit group of scoundrels, working together on many cases during the eight-year period of this litigation.”

Dixon J. ordered the defendants to be removed from or justify their refusal to do so, and returned the reasons for judgment and the trial record to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Banksia Securities collapsed in October 2012, owing millions of dollars to investors, many retirees from regional and rural communities in Victoria, with significant numbers in Ballarat.

At the time of its collapse, Banksia owed approximately $ 663 million to approximately 15,622 debentureholders and had 956 loans outstanding to third party borrowers, for a total of approximately $ 527 million.

Have you signed up for the Courier’s variety of news emails? You can sign up below and make sure you are up to date with everything that is happening at Ballarat.

If you see this message, you are a loyal digital subscriber to The mail, because we’ve made this story available to subscribers only. Thank you very much for your support and for allowing us to continue telling the Ballarat story. We appreciate your support for journalism in our great city.