Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Unread emails ... Family law barrister in Adelaide neglects to attend to emails ... Reminders to renew her ticket studiously ignored ... Unravelling chaos ... Trials invalidated ... Liability of Law Society and Conduct Commissioner ... Breach of statutory requirement ... Damages ... From our Team on the Torrens ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


An Australian Abroad ... An essay with pictures … Egypt and the Grand Museum … No end to the antiquities … Down the Nile on a dahabiya … Tombs and temples … Paris and industrial-scale tourism … The Yarts & Kulture ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Annihilation of the now ...Trump's campaign of destruction ... Fake emergencies ... Pointless and farcical executive orders ... Gangsterism ... Looting ... Corruption ... Shakedowns ... White rage ... Christian nationalism ... Roger Fitch unloads ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Tasmanis's Lieutenant Guv (and CJ) Christopher Shenanigans is unlikely to decide the consitiutional impass ... The current guv'nor, former Circuit Court judge and family lawyer Barbara Baker returns to Guv House next week ... Labor hates the Greens and is unlikely to form a coalition government ... Another election looks likely as the numbers for both sides are brittle and unreliable ... However, Baker can ask the Labor leader to test his numbers. 

Justinian's Bloggers

Letter from London ... Weather report ... Starmer sinking ... Farage rising ... Fake law firm ... Fake cases ...  NHS employee cleans up with woke case for hurt feelings ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt files from Blighty ... Read more >> 

"In its self-image, Australia has changed from a nation of tough, resilient Anzacs to a snowflake society of victims. This can be seen in the rise of identity politics, cancel culture, trigger warnings, unconscious bias, workplace Broderickism, LGBTQIA+ pleading, colonisation impacts, hidden disabilities and welfare dependency. Hurt feelings, offensive words, micro-aggressions, workload stress and anxiety now form the basis of workers compensation claims."

Mark Latham MLC - a dissenting statement in a parliamentary report on proposed changes to workers compensation law ... May 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Zeilgeist litigation ... Matt Collins KC on live-streaming of high-profile trials ... Social media nightmare ... Abuse of barristers ... Chilling emails ... Trials as a form of public entertainment ... Courts sleepwalking into a dangerous zone ... Framework needed to balance competing interests ... Paper delivered to Australian Lawyers Alliance Conference ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Justice Jeff Shaw's bingle ... Supreme Court judge's drink-drive experience ... Cars damaged in narrow Sydney street ... Touch driving ... Missing blood sample ... Equality before the law may not apply to judges ... Judges behind the wheel ... From Justinian's Archive ... November 4, 2004 ... Read more >> 


 

 

« Loose in the USA | Main | Protection of the guilty »
Friday
Jan142011

Lawyers underwater

Big Brisbane law shops hoping to dry out soon ... Water laps Eagle Street ... Some firms stumping-up significant dollars for flood relief ... Timesheets can be downloaded at home ... Plenty of legal work to come ... Tom Westbrook reports

Brisbane law firms are closed and the city's central business district, which yesterday (13/01) was an island, remains a ghost town.

Though the Brisbane River peaked on Wednesday night at 4.46 metres - below expected levels and about a metre below the 1974 peak - the crisis continues.

Yesterday morning brought news of the death of a 24-year-old man, who was drowned checking on his father's inundated home in the Brisbane suburb of Durack.

Fifteen people have been confirmed dead, 61 are missing.

It will be days before the floodwaters recede from the CBD and potentially weeks before the suburbs dry out.

Several office buildings occupied by law firms on or around the riverside Eagle St are among 25,000 properties flooded.

The partners' eyries are high and dry, but the foyers and basements are underwater. That means structural engineers will have to assess the foundations before workers can return.

Electrical certificates will need to be obtained before the power can be reconnected. The lifts also will have to be repaired before office buildings can be accessed.

This will take days and more likely likely weeks.

The Queensland Supreme Court and District Courts in Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Maryborough, Hervey Bay and Rockhampton are adjourning all non-urgent matters until after next week.

A co-operative spirit in the legal community and the courts' Christmas vacation has limited the extent of disruption to ongoing matters.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court, looters beware, remains open.

The Big Six firms have been "rolling out" various plans, procedures and protocols since Monday (10/01) to deal with the disaster.

To keep the juggernauts rolling SMSs have been sent, backup systems dusted off and emergency lines opened to get in touch with staff and get them working from home.

Not insignificant amounts of law firm cash have been pledged to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

Mallesons Stephen Jaques has pledged $50,000 to the Premier's fund while Clayton Utz has chipped-in $30,000 to St Vinnies' Flood Appeal.

Both firms will match any staff donations dollar for dollar and at Mallesons this has already generated $31,000 - on top of the $50,000 it has pledged.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has pitched-in $75,000 and will also match employee donations.

Gadens, Corrs and the Big Six are tentatively hopeful of a return to work some time next week, but nobody knows for sure.

Smaller Brisbane based firms are finding the going tougher.

Without power, remote access, internet or the prospect of alternative office space, many have been paralysed.

The Central Plaza complex, which accommodates Flower and Hart and McCullough Robertson has a flooded basement.

Michael Howard of Flower and Hart said that the firm had a disaster plan in place, but did not know when the shop will re-open.

McCullough Robertson, with no access to their IT system or their Brisbane offices, managed to - hold the blowdryers - post a downloadable timesheet on its disaster status website.

The firm also donated $100,000 to the Premier's Appeal.

Other firms including Hopgood Ganim, Brian Bartley & Associates, Clarke & Kann, Deacon & Milani, Gilshenan & Luton, Thynne & Macartney and MacGillivrays have not been able to access their offices and are to varying degrees temporarily out of action.

Hopwood Ganim says staff are working remotely and can assist clients "as normal", although there "may be some delays".

A number of law firm websites also remain offline.

Cooper Grace Ward has been lucky. Its North Quay offices are dry and, notwithstanding internet and telephone outages, partner Greg Cahill expects the firm will be back up and running today (14/01).

And not a moment too soon, because there's going to be a fair bit of lawyering to do in Brisbane in the aftermath.

Stuart Clark of Clayton Utz - which will be offering some pro-bono assistance to flood victims - expects "anything and everything" to confront the firm's lawyers after the deluge - from insurance claims and coverage disputes to contract renegotiations and dealings with government agencies.

Justin McDonnell of Mallesons said that "after their staff are safe, businesses will start to think about a number of issues".

He says resource companies will face environmental challenges emptying contaminated water from mining pits.

He expects many businesses will be claiming for property damage and business interruption on their industrial special risks insurance and poring over force majeure clauses in sales contracts and financial agreements.

For local firms though, the focus remains on cleaning up and finding their feet as the extent of damage to the CBD becomes clearer in the coming days.

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Editor Permission Required
You must have editing permission for this entry in order to post comments.