There but for fortune

ACT Supremes still drowsy ... AG Smith singing at Silverwater ... Queen's gongs for lawyers ... Littlemore's new hero - "ugly, irascible, intolerant, clever" ... Clutz' document retention policy thriving ... Minimalist welcome from the bar for Ashley Black ... The Rudds turn up at Spigs last admission ceremony

Justice Penfold: judgment took two yearsThe "torpid languor of one hand washing the drowsy procrastination of the other" continues glacially in the ACT Supreme Court.

Justice Hilary Penfold has just delivered a damages judgment after cogitating about it for two years.  

She awarded $8 million to a Canberra man who had been shot in the neck by a copper and is now wheelchair bound.

It's not over yet as there is another directions hearing on August 8. At least she has the excuse of being a trainee, learning the judging ropes on the job.

Local practitioners are incandescent with indignation about other members of the Canberra Supremes, who should know better.  

Justice Roughshagger took 19 months to acquit a young fellow, in a judgment this year, of the sexual assault of two teenage girls.

In a domestic violence case (R v Ramalingam) it was 20 months after the hearing before he slotted the accused.

Word from the Molonglo suggests that retiring Supremo Malcolm Gray is to be replaced by chief magistrate John Burns, and in turn his replacement is tipped to be Magistrate Karen Fryar.

Both Burns and Frayer were instrumental in the downfall of Rapid Ron Cahill, the former chief maggie.

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Attorney General Smith: show me a prison ... Last Thursday (June 9) found NSW attorney general Greg Smith at Silverwater opening a new prison chapel for women. 

Not only did he make a nice speech about the importance of chaplains in the prison system, but he sang a song for the startled dignitaries and screws.

It was Phil Ochs' There But for Fortune. First verse ...  

"Show me a prison, show me a jail
Show me a pris'ner whose face has grown pale ..."

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While Smith is still hot on our breath, it should be noted that his department is undergoing a change of name, presumably to reinforce some important policy adjustments. 

It is no longer the Department of Justice and Attorney General, but the Department of Attorney General and Justice.

All up the anticipated costs for this rebranding exercise are $56,000 - not quite enough to keen a single prisoner in jail for a year.  

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The Queen's birthday honours list was festooned with luminaries from the law caper. 

We counted 17 freshly gonged lawyers or lawyers who have moved onto other pastures.

After sorting through contingents of worthies, from secretaries of the local bowling club to retired pollies, it is possible we may have missed a few from the law and justice milieu.

AC: Susan Kiefel (High Court).

AO: Alan Cameron (ex Blakes, ex-ASIC, etc); Justice Richard (Chesty) Chesterman from the Queensland Supremes; Brian Martin (former CJ, NT); Prof George Williams.

AM: Bob Debus (former NSW and federal polly); Richard Kenzie QC (Defence Force advocate); Justice Peter McClellan (NSW Supremes and CJ at CL); Tony Macken (Melbourne lawyer to the Pope); Denis Nelthorpe (Melbourne solicitor); John Scanlon (secretary general, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Geneva); Bob Seidler (ex-Blakes); Shane Simpson (Sydney arts-law practitioner); Prof Sally Ann Walker (Vice-Chancellor Deakin Uni).  

Justice McClellan: services to law reform

OAM: Dr Howard Bell (social justice and legal bodies in Sydney); William Berry (Parramatta barrister); Doug Spencer (Sydney north shore lawyer).

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Keys: Counsel of ChoiceStuart (Keys) Littlemore's first novel is eagerly awaited. 

Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice is due from HarperCollins in August and our literary editor Worm will be reviewing it in these pages.

The hero is billed as "ugly, irascible, intolerant, clever".

We can do no better than run the publisher's puff:

"From one of our sharpest legal minds comes a brilliant new character, Harry Curry - scion of the establishment and criminal defender extraordinaire. A class traitor, some say.

When Harry′s robust advocacy leads to his suspension for professional misconduct, he teams up reluctantly with Arabella Engineer, an English barrister of Indian descent, struggling for a foothold at the Sydney bar. Together, they wreak havoc in criminal trials involving drug-dealing, terrorism, murder and more. But can their professional relationship survive when personal matters intervene? Is Harry truly fated to live and work alone?

Harry Curry, Counsel of Choice is an insightful - and always engaging - romp through a fascinating segment of society, and an exciting debut by a talented insider."

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Styles: tauntedClayton Utz is no stranger to disappearing documents. It was at a heart of the strife surrounding the firm's defence of the Batty Boys in the Rolah McCabe case. 

The same problem has emerged in the sexual harassment and defamation case former employed solicitor Bridgette Styles has brought against the law shop.

On the first day of a preliminary hearing before Justice Lucy McCallum on June 7, it emerged that Clutz has lost an important piece of evidence "in an office move".

Styles had a brief relationship with another solicitor, Luis Izzo. She claims that as a consequence she was harassed by crude japes, snide remarks and scuttlebutt that flew around the law factory.  

Joe Catanzariti, former prez of the NSW Law 'n' Order Society and now a grand fromage at the Law Council, was the partner in charge of their section.

Shortly after Izzo wrote a file note to Catanzariti, Styles was escorted from the office and then terminated for "performance issues".

One of the taunting messages the plaintiff received from mocking colleagues was a montage of images of Izzo placed near her desk with the hilarious caption, "I'm nice to look at".

The montage has vanished. Could it be another victim of the Orwellian document retention policy?

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The NSW bar 'n' grill managed to contain its delight at the appointment of Mallesons' partner Ashley Black to the NSW Supremes. Its enthusiasm was confined to a single tight paragraph:  

"Ashley John Black, a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jacques, has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, effective 4 July 2011. Details of the swearing-in will be provided closer to the date."

They're just wild about Ashley. 

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At his very last admission ceremonies for new practitioners (May 27) J.J. Spigelman spied the name Nicholas Rudd among the newly minted lawyers. 

His tipstaff told him that this was the son of the former Prime Minister and that Kev himself was in court for the occasion.

Nicholas' fiancée was also admitted in the same batch.

PM Rudd was one of the reasons Spigs is not chief justice of the High Court.

Nonetheless, showing the forgiving nature for which he is justly famous, the CJ invited the Rudd clan for morning tea at the conclusion of the formalities.