Night of the long knives ... Lakeside in Canberra ... ACT Law Society upheaval over governance changes ... Bodies carted out of the council room ... Blood on the carpet ... Fraught litigation another distraction ... From Gang Gang
Drama at the ACT Law Society is shrouded in the mists that regularly settle over the Molonglo.
In November last year the professional standards director Rob Reis was elected president and three months later he suddenly "resigned" from the post.
On March 18, 2025, Chris Donohue was "removed" from the council after 14 years and a stint as president.
He said that he remained "committed to keeping the ACT Law Society as a membership organisation and not have it degenerate into a bureaucracy."
He cited the Oxford English Dictionary:
"Bureaucracy: A system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives."
That gives us a clue as to what's going on.
Chris remained as shtum as possible, telling Justinian:
"Members of the ACT Law Society Council are bound by a policy of confidentiality. This means that I am not able to give you any information that can be considered a Council matter.
I can confirm, however, that I am no longer a member of the council."
Apparently, councillors wanted to get home for dinner at around 7pm, but Chris was keeping them late by chinwagging about a survey on the society's governance and foreshadowed changes to its constitution - changes largely driven by the staff.
See Donohue's critique of the governance review.
Implicit in the survey is a proposal to reduce the size of the elected council by half and for up to three "independent" paid people to be appointed to the governing body of the fiefdom.
Details are vague and there are plenty of untidy loose ends, but the concern is that this is move by the bureaucrats to take power from the elected councillors of the Tiny Town Law Society.
Shortly after Rob Reis vanished a message was circulated to the rank n' file saying that councillor Liz Hug had also gone.
"We would like to thank Liz for her service ..."
Liz, a migration and citizenship lawyer who runs Lovebirds migration agency, told Justinian that timetable clashes with her post-graduate studies was the reason she bailed out.
In her place Mohammed El Roubi climbed aboard the council.
"He brings a wealth of experience to the role, notably with respect to governance, compliance, and regulatory knowledge."
Handy skills in this environment.
The society's CEO Simone Carton has been on leave since November.
This is all playing out against the ongoing litigation brought by Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart who has waged a campaign to secure a practising certificate from the society.
He blames Reis for denying him a ticket and he wants damages for human rights breaches and a grovel.
Ezekiel-Hart has brought 37 "florid" proceedings against the Law Society, which wants him declared a vexatious litigant, even though earlier reports indicated that Justice Greg Curtin last year pointed the vexatious bone at Emmanuel. And here.
Everyone is thoroughly exhausted by this expensive circus and maybe that's one of the reasons why Rob Reis threw in the towel.
Justinian