Endangered details
There has been drama out west, according to our field agent, Sandy Groper.
The lawyers’ ticketing agency, the WA Legal Practice Board, has been the victim of a cyber attack which crashed its website.
Thousands of lawyers could not renew their certificates using the online system. They faced the prospect of being slugged if their renewals were not lodged by May 31.
There was a workaround – lawyers who knew how to use a computer could download a form, fill it out, scan it, and email it to the board.
The Law Society of WA was on its hind legs wanting to know if bank, trust account, and residential addresses had been compromised.
There was also concern about the unclear consequences for lawyers where PCs were delayed.
The Law Society sent a note to the rank ‘n’ file saying:
“… This information is not yet publicly available on the board’s website and we are urging the board to publish this information online as soon as possible.”
All in all a messy situation, which the Law Society wanted thrashed out at a “Town Hall event to allow the board and its advisers to address the profession and respond to common questions …”
By “Town Hall” event, practitioners wondered if that might involve a mass rally at 601 Hay Street.
Clearly, someone thinks that by nefariously accessing lawyers’ personal and financial details there’s hay to be made. Indeed, word is out that the hackers are threatening to publish private information.
The board tried to calm mounting concern, with an assurance that only “a very small number of third parties” have had their bank account details compromised.
“Additionally, a BSB and account number does not present a direct misuse risk as, alone, they do not allow unauthorised access to your bank account. However, the BSB does identify who the financial institution is, which may make impersonation scam attempts appear more legitimate. This is why it is important that we all practice extra vigilance against the risk of scams.”
Investigations are continuing but according to the board there is no evidence “to suggest any impact to residential addresses”.
It seems everything is not entirely in hand. Barrister Nicholas van Hattem, who is an elected member of the LPB, invited practitioners through his LinkedIn page to email him directly about ongoing issues.
Another lawyer, Lindsay Dick, also used LinkedIn to point out “the utterly perplexing dropdown choice of countries on the Legal Practice Board website”, which includes “Africa” as a country, along with two New Zealands, two Irelands and two Northern Irelands.
Real estate
The bar management empires in Sydney and Brisbane are so engorged that more office space is the order of the day.
Things are well underway in Sydney, with magnificent new digs staked out on the corner of King and Elizabeth Streets – except for the library, meeting space, plus the old banquet hall and ballroom, which stay where they are with associated staff continuing to live like underground moles or Wombles.
A new president has been crowned, and a new executive director is on the way.
The rest of the underground dungeon in Phillip Street is on the market. Word on the street has it that 9 Wentworth Chambers is to take some of this space to move its entire annex from the well-appointed 99 Elizabeth Street.
It’s a long time since the days of Captain Fred Cook, registrar of the Bar Association, who arrived at work, rang his stockbroker, signed some papers, went to lunch, and was at the club for snifters by 4 pm.
In Brisbane, things are trickier. The BAQ wants to move from its space on the ground floor of the Inns of Court, owned by Barristers Chambers Ltd.
BCL is not happy and thinks that it’s a decision for the entire membership of the bar.
BAQ president Cate Heyworth-Smith was on the receiving end of a snarky letter from Christopher Hughes, the Grand Poobah at BCL.
He said he was open to explore reconfiguration of the office space leased by BAQ “to accomodate any necessary increased staff”.
The bar practice course has been turfed out of space at the Supreme Court, so Hughes has also made an overture that BCL might possibly accomodate “some or all of the bar practice course in the Inns”.
Unfortunately, the common room on level 5 is out of bounds for the bar members who are not members of chambers at the Inns of Court building.
Hughes says the board of BCL is not guided by loss of the rental income from BAQ, rather it is the more noble concerns of fellowship, harmony and history.
“Finally, I am personally delighted to read that the council will be providing detailed information concerning the factors that have converged to, apparently, “render the present tenancy to be unsuitable” and the options that have been considered including costings, forecasts and comparisons. No doubt that disclosure will include the council’s consideration of the benefit of remaining in the Inns.”
To cap it off, Hughes suggests an inspection of the bar’s premises with President Cate, or her delegate, “so that I might better understand the need for larger premises …”
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If office politics is not enough of a distraction for barristerial Banana Benders, there is the problem with their professional indemnity insurance premiums.
Some briefs are experiencing hikes of 55-64% – on top of the last year’s increased premiums.
According to correspondence from President Heyworth-Smith between 2023 and 2024 the value of claims made by barristers insured with Suncorp and Marsh increased overall by $2.2 million.
Suncorp insures 656 members of the BAQ and Marsh 329. Country Wide and Aon have much smaller shares of the market north of the Tweed, 20 and 45 respectively.
For those who have claims against them, the president understands how stressful this can be.
“… If you are feeling the pain of this. I urge you to please consider approaching one of the Bar Care subcommittee members … Lean on your chambers colleagues, mentors or senior counsel – this is one area where the collegiality of the bar is at its most manifest.”