By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
It all started with a cavoodle named Oscar.
Oscar is a very special boy, a “celebrity dog” worth an estimated $20,000 with his own Instagram account, and an unfortunate knack of kicking off protracted legal disputes involving his paw owners.
In 2021, a custody battle over Oscar between Sydney barrister Gina Edwards and her former friend Mark Gillespie led to a series of stories on Nine’s A Current Affair. Last year, Edwards successfully sued Nine, owner of this masthead, for defamation, with Federal Court judge Michael Wigney ruling that the stories had depicted her as a “dog thief”.
Gina Edwards and Oscar the cavoodle after she won her defamation case against Nine.Credit: Janie Barrett
Nine was ordered to pay Edwards $150,000 in damages, plus her legal costs, around $1.2 million all up. But the costs issue has become the source of a spectacular falling out between Edwards and her lawyers Giles George, run by top defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles.
A Federal Court hearing on Thursday, which should’ve been an administrative postmortem to resolve costs issues arising from Edwards’ case against Nine, became the scene of a whole new legal dogfight, as the plaintiff, representing herself, took on her former lawyers.
Edwards has complained to the Law Society of NSW, alleging that Giles George didn’t follow legal professional rules in relation to their costs agreement. An additional complaint to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner about Giles George was closed on receipt. Meanwhile, Edwards told the court on Thursday that the firm, known for its PR-forward approach to client representation, had billed her for briefing journalists about the case.
Giles George, meanwhile, is seeking to intervene in the all-but-concluded defamation case, arguing that Edwards’ costs should be paid by Nine to the court directly, rather than their former client. Giles declined to comment, although it’s understood she denies Edwards’ allegations.
The costs spat between Giles George and Edwards is set to continue in March.
Spare a thought for poor Oscar, who probably has no idea the amount of drama he’s caused.
Zombie fees
Lord Mayor Nick Reece went viral during his election campaign thanks to some AI renders from Hassell Architects depicting 28 new city parks he pledged to build.
Reece’s tweet announcing his plan went global with more than 500,000 views due to the unfortunate inclusion of zombies in the new green spaces, with their limbs merging into other limbs while lying in the middle of one of the mayor’s proposed children’s play areas.
One of the infamous zombie renders of a City of Melbourne park.Credit: Twitter
Wondering what price was paid to achieve such international notoriety, we scoured Reece’s donation disclosures but found no mention of Hassell, suggesting perhaps that the prestigious architecture firm’s work was cheaper than we thought, coming in at under the $500 required for disclosure.
Both Hassell and Reece remain tight-lipped on the amount charged for the zombie park renders but a spokeswoman for Hassell said the firm “invoiced a nominal amount for the work”.
It is unclear whether the addition of zombies resulted in a discount or an extra charge.
Byron baes
Having well and truly shed its “alternative” vibe, Byron Bay has emerged as a bit of a magnet for normie Hollywood types. Chris and Liam Hemsworth have mansions there. After spending much of the pandemic in Byron, High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron is planning a mega sustainable ranch around the nearby Queensland border.
Actress Chloe Sevigny has been enjoying Byron Bay.Credit: Getty
The latest A-lister drawn to that corner of northern NSW is New York’s very own Chloe Sevigny, once described as “the it girl to end all it girls” with a chic cachet those Marvel men could only dream of.
Sevigny spent a week at uber-exclusive Wategos Beach in January, staying at the home of Steve Nasteski, a Sydney fine art dealer, specialising in moving Brett Whiteleys.
We hear they’re connected through Sevigny’s husband, Croatian art gallery owner Sinisa Mackovic.
Dudes in DC
US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington last week was like a honeypot for billionaires anxious to kiss the ring – or in Gina Rinehart’s case, continue the celebrations.
Meanwhile, ambassador Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Penny Wong weren’t the only Labor figures in town. Former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon was in DC during the Trump jamboree, as part of his role co-chairing the AUKUS Forum with ex-Liberal senator and ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos.
This week, there are more True Believers in DC, with NSW Treasurer Dan Mookhey stopping in as part of an overseas jaunt. That included an event at BHP, where he posed for photos with erstwhile political frenemy and ex-premier Dom Perrottet, who now leads the Big Australian’s external and corporate affairs team in the American capital.