Since law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth abruptly dumped the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s “personal injury work” in July, a major power shift has been underway in the darkest crannies of the legal fraternity.
Corrs effectively wound up the practice of partner Richard Leder, longstanding adviser to the church and architect with George Pell of the 1996 “Melbourne Response”, the world’s first compensation scheme for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. And a sublime euphemism.
On 20 September 2022, Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd published an article in the Australian Financial Review entitled “Lawyers audition for Catholics work Corrs vacated”. The article referred to Vanessa Kemp, which she considers unfairly criticises her for acting for religious organisations defending compensation claims from victims of child sexual abuse. Fairfax Media wishes to clarify that there is no suggestion that Ms Kemp provided legal services in a manner inconsistent with her obligations as an officer of the Court.
