Chambers lockdown as Covid strikes gilded floor … Cows come home in well-executed judicial flourish … Family lawyers urged to wise-up to “reputation risk management” … Magistrate sticks his beak into reworking the prosecution case … Theodora reports 

Tenth Floor Chambers in Sydney’s Street of Shame is locked down because one of its top silks tested positive to Covid. 

An email went out to the rank and file: 

“Anyone who attended chambers on Monday 30 August is considered a close contact regardless of actual or physical contact. 

“These people must be tested and isolate immediately. Their family members or living close contacts must also test and isolate. Home isolation includes segregating yourself from other family members/flatmates and cleaning bathrooms or communal facilities with disinfectant after use etc. I would suggest referring to the NSW Health website asap for advice if you fall into this category. 

You will need to test immediately and then again on day 12, which would be 11 September. You must test specifically on this date. It then gives 2 days for results to clear. 14 days clearance means midnight on 13 September, so not back in chambers until 14 September with a second negative result.” 

A field agent reports sighting external visitors to the floor, including people from a law firm involved in a conference. 

That means people at the law shop and other visitors are also close contacts and should put up the shutters until cleared. 

Judge David Russell of the NSW Dizzo last month delivered judgment in a case involving a long-winded dispute over the deferred purchase price for a podiatry business.

HH noted that it is “great shame” that the “sensible settlement mechanism” agreed by the plaintiffs did not lead to a resolution of the matter many years ago. 

As it is, costs have ballooned to multiples of the amount in dispute, there have been 12 interlocutory hearings, a mediation, a three-day trial and a court book running to 804 pages.  

“Counsel for the plaintiffs submitted that it was never intended that the parties could argue about the figure payable ’till the cows come home’. Unfortunately that is what has happened for the last four years. Two cows branded ‘Plaintiffs’ and ‘Defendant’ have now been herded into the District Court. Only one of those cows will be released to the grassy uplands and the other will be going to the abattoir.” 

Montgomery & Anor v My FootDr (Aust) Pty Ltd

The Giles-Chrysanthou road show rolls on. 

The defamation tag-team sent out an email to family lawyers to tune into a Zoom session where barrister Sue Chrysanthou presented a session about “secrets and lies” – or as Becky Giles put it: 

“We will be touching on the usual tricks in family law to damage the reputation of the other party … Feel free to circulate.” 

It’s a masterclass on how to manage private matters when they become public – confidentiality, injunctions and suppression orders. 

The marketing department at the Giles-Chrysanthou Reputation Repair Shop is impressive. To top it off, Rebekah’s firm signs off as “Global Law Experts Reputation Risk Lawyer of the Year (Australia) 2019, 2020 and 2021”. 

Off to Queensland and the Magistrates Court at Richlands, outer south-west of Brisbane, where Stuart Shearer is a fixture on the bench. 

Judge Paul Smith in the District Court heard an appeal from a man who pleaded guilty before Madge Shearer to driving under the influence, whereas he seems only to have been smelling of alcohol while sleeping in his car. 

While he was hearing the under-the-influence offence, Shearer interrupted the defence and asked the police officer:

It might be worthwhile to recall what ICAC said in the Burns‘ case: