Porsche driving head of equity being fitted for CJ robes … Willy or won’t he? – Alstergren favoured for Chuckles’ job … The Christian’s costly litigation spree … Biased judges survey … Wot’s going on at the NSW solicitors’ society? … Coincidental political allies appointed to IR gig … Sharks salute sharks … Theodora with Goings On … 

Funnily enough, the state election is held on March 25, 2023 – eight days after Bathurst’s 75th, so it will still be the Lib’s call. 

Ward is a Sydney University medallist in law, and was an associate to Nigel Bowen when he was CJ of the Federal Court. 

From there to Stephen Jaques and in 1988 became a partner at what by then was Mallesons. In between somewhere she received a scholarship to do a post-graduate BCL at Oxford.

After 20 years at the law shop she was tapped by the Labor government in 2008 for the Supremes. Four years later she went to the Court of Appeal and in 2017 was anointed as CJ in Eq. 

Tom Bathurst, as senior vice, did the honours for the bar ‘n’ grill at the ceremony, without drawing too much attention to the fact that Ward came from the solicitors’ ranks. 

By now the bar might have got over one of its own being overlooked for the prize. 

Various field agents have mentioned Alstergren’s name as a contender for Allsop’s job, and if the Liberals’ hold the reins after the 2022 elections then his prospects will be even better. 

It gives Stuart Wood’s lobbing machine plenty of time to square the presses for Two Wigs. 

Together with his former defamation brief, Sue Chrysanthou, there’s an unpaid bill of $550,000 for costs related to Jo Dyer’s successful case in defenestrating Celebrity Sue from the former attorney general’s legal team when he took on  against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan – a case he lost because he scuttled from the field of battle. 

Porter may have to fork-up the lion’s share because Chrysanthou claims that she was “neutral” in the application to get rid of her. The matter has gone to a registrar for mediation and determination. 

Then he’s got his own legal bill to pay for the work done by Becky Giles, Christopher Withers SC and Emma Bathurst. If Dyer’s costs are anything to go by, that would be in the realms of another $250,000 to $300,000. 

He’s appealing Justice Tom Thawley’s costs and injunction decisions, so if he goes down there, that’s another wallop in the wallet. 

He has also got Bret Walker’s bill for the argument that the Federal Court should disappear the ABC’s truth defence from its file. The defence is so steaming hot that he may have to appeal that decision if it goes against him. 

On it goes. What a smashing idea it was to sue the ABC and Milligan over her article which remains online here. 

Lawyers can fill in the form anonymously with answers to questions about personal experience with applications for judicial recusal on bias grounds; whether these decisions should be made by another judge or panel of judges; any experience in cases where a judge has failed to disclose relevant information; the appropriateness and transparency of judicial disqualification procedures; whether a judge has shown bias against a client; and so on. 

The forms also asks whether the person responding is non-binary, a Buddhist, or speaks Cantonese. 

Importantly, there are a number of little boxes where it’s possible to name names.

Here are the details from the LCA. It should be a bit of fun. 

According to one informant, numerous people, including senior officers, have left their jobs in the last 12 months or so. Some of this may be attributable to Covid, but others say there are workplace issues that need to be resolved. 

An anonymous letter was sent to councillors claiming that staff feel “isolated, scared, disconnected, and demoralised”. 

There’s talk of an “unhealthy workplace” and “a broken environment” where “morale is extremely low”. 

The letter goes on to say that some staff are becoming ill and the situation is  “likely to escalate”. 

Apparently, the society’s inner executive had heard reports about general misery and multiple departures, but other councillors have not been kept in the loop. 

There may even be calls for an independent inquiry to probe why so many people have bailed out. 

We are anxious to find out more … 

Gone are the days when Labor could get its union mates onto the bench, now it’s Gladys’s turn. 

The latest political insider to be elevated to the commission is Christopher Muir.  Currently he is the head of poker machine lobbing outfit Gaming Technologies Association and before that he was chief of staff to cabinet minister Andrew Constance. 

In fact, he did two stints with Constance as minister for transport – the first between November 2016 and May 2018 and an earlier run of four years when Hon Constance was did turns as minister for industrial relations preceded by a one year as state treasurer (April 2014 to April 2015). 

Muir takes up his new gig from August 30 after he’s wrapped-up things at the pokies log-rolling shop. 

Maybe political connections and important appointments are nothing more than coincidences, which could have been the case when the Gladys government appointed Nichola Constant (not to be confused with Hon. Constance) as chief commissioner of the IRCNSW. 

Nichola had been a commissioner since 2018, so it was not too big a step up to replace Peter Kite SC as the boss cocky. 

What made her appointment even more coincidental is that she is married to Jason Falinski, the Liberal Party replacement for Bronwyn Bishop in the seat of Mackellar. 

Jason’s maiden speech was a corker, in which he questioned the effectiveness of social welfare while extolling the beauty of free markets – which “empower the individual and turn our most selfish traits into public good”.  

In the speech he also blew a big kiss to Nichola: 

“Sweetheart, you have been my bedrock, my north star and the better angel of my nature. Your fierce conscience means that ‘you will never go gentle into the night’.” 

And, with four of the six commissioners of the male persuasion there might have been a bit more effort on the gender balance front from those handing out these plum posts. 

A Victorian field agent has sent a recent edition of Backroom Baz’s gossip column, which commenced: 

“Anyone who has ever made a mistake of mislabelling a top lawyer only ever does it once. 

“Refer to a Queen’s Counsel as anything other, like a Senior Counsel, and you’ll quickly learn why.” 

Baz was making heavy weather of the instance where in court filings former Vic Premier Steve Bracks was referred to as Steve Bracks AO. 

“No, no, no. Anyone who knows anything about anything knows the former premier is an AC.” 

Er … this is the very same Peter Willis who is one of the relatively few SCs at Vic’s bar’n’ grill. 

Let’s hope it’s a mislabelling the Murdoch hack only makes once. 

— American Bar Association (@ABAesq) July 14, 2021