6/3/2010 Victorias lawyers being sued in landmar…

Victorias lawyers being sued in landmark test case

News, Articles & Press Releases

Adde d 21 O ctobe r, 2009, 02:28 AM
Author: Se creta ry SP CA

Victorias lawyers being sued in landmark test c ase

Thursday 15 October 2009
*** MEDIA RELEASE
*** NO EMBARGO

A senior human rights lawyer has joined the backlash of critic ism of Vic toria's lawyers and judges
inc luding rec ent damning criticisms by Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Vic torian
Attorney-General Rob Hulls.

Human rights lawyer and activist James Johnson from law firm Sutton Lawyers has launched a test case
to confirm that, thanks to the new Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, Vic torians
can
now for the first time sue Australian barristers and solic itors for negligence and other improper conduct
in Court proc eedings - even if other Australian's are not as lucky.

Mr Johnson alleges that he was disadvantaged by the negligent and unethical practic es of lawyers
during recent legal proceedings. Now, in a landmark test c ase Mr Johnson is testing the new human
rights laws,
suing the Minister for Human Services Usa Neville, 4 family law lawyers and a family law court judge.
"Australia's barristers and litigation solicitors are the only professionals who are not legally liable for
negligence in the work place," he said. "This situation no longer exists in other English speaking legal
systems.

Laws in Britain, the US, Canada and a host of European countries have removed lawyers' immunities,
and c itizens in those countries are able to sue lawyers over their actions, words and conduct in court."

The announc ement of Mr Johnson's test c ase c omes not long after the publication of a damning report
by Victorian State Ombudsman George Brouwer reporting on large scale misconduct and inc ompetence
by
Victoria's peak legal regulator, Victorian Legal Servic es Commissioner Ms Victoria Marles, who has
subsequently tendered her resignation.

Mr Johnson says that basic human rights, inc luding the right to a fair trial and the principle of equality
under the law are key rights guaranteed by Mr Hull's Human Rights Charter. Mr Johnson c laims that
during the recent Court proceedings he suffered substantial injustice when he was denied these basic
human rights. "Special laws made by judges protecting lawyers from negligence claims have always
been incompatible with the basic human right of equality under the law. Basic rights to a fair hearing
are also undermined when barristers are able to get away with negligent, unethical and even fraudulent
misconduct."

"These special laws just for lawyers have bred arrogance among a small group of lawyers and it flies in
the face of Victoria's Charter of Human Rights," he said. "Our Vic torian Attorney-General Rob Hulls has
publicly criticised judges for their aloofness has been demanding c ultural c hange. But these same

familylawwebguide.com.au/…/index.php… 1/4
6/3/2010 Victorias lawyers being sued in landmar…
cultural attitudes of superiority are prevalent throughout the legal profession. Barristers and solicitors
and not just judges need to undergo urgent cultural change. We have a situation where a small number
of negligent and corrupt lawyers are causing irreparable damage to the professional images of a majority
of hard-working, ethical and c ompetent lawyers. And the legal professional bodies and regulators are
slow to respond to the problem."

Other prominent lawyers have expressed the same kinds of c oncerns as Mr Johnson. Retired Victorian

Supreme Court Judge, Professor George Hampel has been a long time advocate of universal professional
negligence laws, arguing that it is for the good of the profession as well as for the good of the public,
that negligenc e laws should not disc riminate in favour of lawyers.

Retired High Court Justice Michael Kirby also been vocal in c ritic isng this historic al defect in Australian's
professional negligence laws working in favour of lawyers. He served up a strong rebuke to his fellow
judges and lawyers in 2005, the last time the High Court heard a case challenging for the right to sue a
barrister for negligence.

"I question why an anomalous immunity is not only preserved in Australia but now actually enlarged by a
binding legal rule that will include out-of-court advisings and extend to protect solic itors as well as
barristers," he wrote. 'With all due respec t to those of the contrary view, I regard suc h a decision as
legally erroneous, unwarranted and unworthy.""Over the course of a c entury, (the High Court) has
heard countless cases in which negligence has been alleged against professional and other skilled
persons. Thus, it has held to legal acc ount architects, c ivil engineers, dental surgeons, and specialist
physicians and surgeons, anaesthetists, electrical contrac tors, persons providing financ ial advice, police
officers, builders, pilots solic itors (in respec t of out-of-court advice) and teachers," he said, saying it
was impossible to see how lawyers could justify special treatment by the law.

But in 2005 the majority of other Judges sitting on the High Court disagreed. They noted that, unlike
the United Kingdom, Australia did not yet have a national Bill of Rights. Mr Johnson said that "Bac k in
2005 the absence of a national Bill of Rights allowed wriggle room for the majority of the High Court
Judges to rule that Victoria's barristers and solicitors, including me, were somehow special compared to
all other Australian professionals.

The High Court, by a majority went against the international trend to put lawyers on the same legal
status as everyone else. Over Justice Kirby's critcisms they extended the law to protec t Vic toria's
litigation solicitors, not just Vic toria's barristers, from professional negligenc e law suits."

Australia today is one of only three countries (along with Burma and Chile) that still doesn't have a
national Bill of Human Rights. But, as Mr Johnson points out, Vic toria now has a Charter of Human Rights
and
Responsibilities.

Acc ording to Mr Johnson "Justice Kirby delivered a strongly written rebuke to his fellow Judges, saying
that these laws keeping special legal protection for lawyers was nothing more than what he called an
'inadmissible empathy' - a 'sympathetic understanding confined to lawyers', bec ause Australian judges
are themselves lawyers. The outrageousness of the special protec tion speaks for itself sinc e these bad
laws have been removed in all other English speaking countries.

Justice Kirby said that this excuse 'will not do'. And there are many honest, dedicated lawyers who
agree with him."
"Equality under the law, the 'rule of law' is the single biggest contribution the English legal system has
made to democracy, world peace and prosperity. It is something that English judges and c ourts have
championed for hundreds of years - well before Attorney-General Hull's Vic torian Charter of Human
Rights and Responsibilities. And yet, somehow, English judges managed to create laws protecting
English lawyers from being sued for negligenc e and a whole range of other kinds of misc onduc t during
court proceedings.

familylawwebguide.com.au/…/index.php… 2/4
6/3/2010 Victorias lawyers being sued in landmar…
Then, somehow, while ever other English speaking country realised during the 20th century that these
spec ial laws were wrong and removed them, in 2005 Australia's judges actually went with new laws
discriminating even more favourably in favour of Australian lawyers.

Acc ording to Mr Johnson "The challenge for human rights lawyers and advocates will be if this test case
is not succ esful. Special laws protecting negligent barristers and solic itors from being sued are a major,
if not fatal, road block to the introduction of human rights laws. Whether we are talki.ng about the
Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsiblities which is existing law, or we are talking about a
future Bill of Rights for Australia. If our lawyers wont acc ept something as basic as equal liability under
professional negligence laws they can hardly be c ounted on to stand up and protec t Australian's
against other human rights violations either.

It is no coincidenc e that Australia has the third worst human rights records amongst the 132 members
of the United Nations."

Mr Johnson hopes that his test case will bring Australia's laws, and Australian lawyers, into line with
standards in other English speaking c ountries. "Australia's lawyers and professional bodies should be
welcoming and encouraging this reform just as English lawyers did in 2000. New laws, demonstrated by
a handful of c ases requiring a few unethic al lawyers to compensate people they have wronged will do
wonders to improve public faith in the integrity of the legal profession."

MEDIA ENQUIRIES - BY TEXT MESSAGE TO: 0433255 177

Attached the artic le from Sunday's Herald Sun on one of several test c ases that human rights
law firm, Sutton Lawyers (of 1st Floor 141 Osborne Street South Yarra Vic 3141) is
c urrently running in the Vic torian Supreme Court.

As luck would have it, attached is a second article (on an unrelated case) where senior lawyers
misbehaving in the Supreme Court have been strongly rebuked and fac e serious misc onduc t
c harges. This is a good sign (espec ially in the c ontext of the criticisms of judges and other
lawyers that have been aired by the Victorian and the Federal Attorney-Generals in rec ent
weeks).

This sort of misconduc t by lawyers is of course par for the c ourse in the family law courts.
Sutton Lawyer's test case in the Supreme Court involves misconduct by 4 family lawyers
misbehaving in the
Supreme Court and in the family c ourt and 2 judges (supreme c ourt and family court). It is only
a matter of time until these family lawyers are ordered to pay substantial c ivil damages, and
face serious
professional disciplinary proc eedings and probably criminal charges too.

Please FORWARD this email and attachments, please post them etc far and wide to all dads
groups and journalists in your contact list, with a request that they also on-forward, post etc.

As one of several initiatives I am looking to establish a mens right group to be known as 'Women
In Favour of Equality' (ie WIFE organisation) learning from how the female suffragettes ac hieved
'equal political rights' at the turn of the 1900s only because of the actions of men like HG Wells
who were 'men in favour of equality.' So I would be especially pleased to hear from women
willing to take up positive roles in WIFE Organisation.

The best way for anyone to contact me is by ordinary snail mail at Sutton Lawyers (as per
above postal address).

Now is the time for the truth to be put out to everyone who is willing to rec eive it.

I have reason to believe (inside information) that the national family court industry, worth $6bn
familylawwebguide.com.au/…/index.php… 3/4
6/3/2010 Victorias lawyers being sued in landmar…
per annum to these corrupt family lawyers, is in danger of very substantial c ollapse from within.
Stay tuned for
more details.

Best wishes
James Johnson
Human Rights Lawyer

A reader said
The impending c ase against Family Court Lawyers is the best news I have heard in years. Do
you have court dates for these up and c oming c ases. I want to attend.I have been exposing
Justic e Susan Crennan persistently since I rec eived c onfirmation about her past from (name
withheld)

Susan Crennan should have never sat on the Magill paternity Fraud case in Canberra on 7th April
2006. She has perverted the c ourse of justice.and she broke the law. With all the facts thrown
at her to date, she continues to deny wrong doing!
Name withheld
Fraud Advocate
Melbourne

Edited Today

familylawwebguide.com.au/…/index.php… 4/4