On Monday, the legal profession’s equivalent of an 800-pound gorilla wandered into a case that all began with a very small dog.
The gorilla in question is top silk Arthur Moses, SC, a former president of the NSW bar association now better known as the romantic partner of former premier Gladys Berejiklian. The dog is, of course, Oscar the Cavoodle, whose owner, barrister Gina Edwards, sued A Current Affair for defamation, and is locked in a protracted dispute over legal costs with her former firm Giles George, run by prominent solicitor Rebekah Giles.
Gina Edwards and Oscar the cavoodle after she won her defamation case against Nine.Credit: Janie Barrett
Last year, Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney awarded Edwards $150,000 in damages after finding that Nine, owner of this masthead, had depicted her as a “dog thief”. But a subsequent dispute between Edwards and her former lawyers, which began with a dispute over whether the $1.1 million in legal costs Nine owes her should be paid to the court directly, has dragged on for months, with the firm retaining Moses to act for them in the ongoing legal dogfight.
And quite the dogfight it has been. As CBD recently reported, Edwards made allegations from the bar table that Giles had attempted to coach her as a witness during last year’s defamation trial, a claim Giles George denies.
She’s also made a complaint to the Law Society of NSW alleging Giles didn’t follow legal professional rules in relation to the costs agreement.
More recently, Edwards has sought leave to appeal an order made by Wigney that Nine pay the lump sum legal costs directly to the court.
Arthur Moses is the latest lawyer dragged into a costs spat over a million-dollar cavoodle.Credit: Janie Barrett
In the latest episode, Moses fronted a case management hearing before Wigney in the Federal Court on Monday, during which his honour ordered the parties into mediation with hopes of reaching an agreement in the dispute. The parties also agreed that Edwards’ team of barristers, led by CBD regular Sue Chrysanthou, SC, could be paid their share of the costs – about $686,000 all up.
We last encountered Moses leading the legal team for former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith in his failed defamation case against the Herald, which culminated in a Federal Court judge finding the Victoria Cross recipient had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Now he’s been dragged into a costs spat over a million-dollar cavoodle, a far cry from the defamation trial of the century.
Brand new day
When Michael Brand departs as Art Gallery of NSW director in July after 13 years in the role, he’ll leave vacant arguably the most prestigious job in the Australian cultural sector.
The search to find Brand’s successor is well under way. Under questioning from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers’ Party’s Mark Banasiak in budget estimates this week, Department of Creative Industries secretary Elizabeth Mildwater said that an “international search” was seeking a new director.
Headhunters Spencer Stuart have been retained to run the recruitment process on a $154,000 contract from the department. We hear interviews are kicking off next week, with deputy director Maud Page, who has applied, considered a local frontrunner – so much so that other potential aspirants have declined to nominate in solidarity.
But we also hear the search is looking towards a few arts types hoping to flee Donald Trump’s America, with Melissa Chiu, Darwin-born director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, among the names in the mix.
But with salaries for some American museum directors hitting the seven-figure mark, it might be hard to attract them Down Under for a job that pays $500,000, give or take. We’re glad there’s money for somebody in the art world.
Wise guy
Long before he was dubbed the LinkedIn lecher, an entrepreneur called Richard White was called forth to defend his business, WiseTech. The company, a market darling, was accused by short seller J Capital of overstating profits and shielding subsidiaries from audit scrutiny.
White’s train-wreck interview with ABC show The Business in 2019 is now being used by PR firms as media training for what not to do.
The interview is marked by frequent interjections by a woman off-camera, who at one point tells interviewer Elysse Morgan that she doesn’t understand the issues at hand.
When Morgan asked whether accounting giant KPMG had audited WiseTech’s subsidiaries, White said, “Yes, I believe they have. No. Sorry. Let’s do that one again, sorry.”
To which Morgan responded: “I’m sorry. You have agreed to an interview. There’s only so many times I can re-ask questions.”
White explained the topic was out of his area of expertise, which was running a software business. Meanwhile, the billionaire founder of WiseTech has withstood a series of damaging headlines over his conduct towards women, and subsequent boardroom turmoil, to return as the company’s executive chair, months after being forced out.
Despite all that recent bad press, WiseTech shares remain about three times higher than at the time of White’s interview train wreck.
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