It's a date

Big day announced for Yarraside Queens ... Barrister instructs ICAC on important differences between Greeks and Hellenes ... Shady debt and mortgage entrepreneur caught by party snaps ... Modest wedding preparations for a humble London solicitor 

Presiding officer of the Yarraside Bar n Grill, Willy Alstergren, has put senior counsel out of their mystery by advising that April 23 is the date for the minting of fresh Queen's Counsel. 

That is the day that 85 percent of the state's SCs, who have notified their intention to convert, will be able to attach the QC post-nominal to their letterheads, advices, fees, court appearances, cheque books, email addresses, telephone directories and during dinner table conversations with spouses. 

There have been rumblings from the lower decks that the bar was not widely consulted about the rebadging of senior counsel, rather it was hatched and sprung by a cell of Liberal Party monarchists. 

Willy says this is not so, because 85 percent of Vic's SCs said they desired the glittering bauble - so it must be popular. 

Keep your eye on the list here, to locate the 15 percent of SCs who stick with the more work-a-day and less pretentious honorific.  

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Andrew Kostopoulos is the brief appearing at ICAC for Rod de Aboitiz and Anthony Karan, two of the investors dudded by Arthur Sinodinos' carefree little corporate folly, Australian Water Holdings. 

Last Monday (April 7) Kostopoulos kicked off proceedings by raising a matter of public importance - two MPIs, in fact. 

First, an invitation to colleagues to attend dinner or drinks as part of "Hellenic Filoxenia" to discuss "the Royal Commission Military Boards of Inquiry and like bodies operating under Australian law". 

Secondly, and more importantly, Kostopoulos took "great exception to being referred to as a Greek barrister by the media and press". 

Somehow, this fell within s.18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. 

"I'm a third generation Australian, your honour, from country stock in Tully Queensland who is counsel at the NSW bar. 

I've served my country as an officer with the Australian Army Legal Corp for 11 years, during that high operational tempo between 2001 until 2011." 

Having survived the military grapeshot, Andrew thoughtfully pointed out that rarely does a member of the Orthodox Church of Australia get a mention at the Royal Commission into child molestation. 

However, it is a bit different at ICAC, where "the reputation of the Hellenic community of Australia is featured prominently". 

"Any reference to the term Greek, which derives from the Latin word G-r-a-u-c-i is offensive to both me and the Hellenic community in Australia ... as the Greeks were an unruly nomadic tribe of barbarians, the Hellenes were not." 

He continued ... 

"Recent global spotlighting on the economic demise of Hellas Greece has ruined the brand name of our rich culture and our background. 

The Hellenes on the the other hand were ethical, hard working and intelligent thinkers, innovators and philosophers ..." etc, etc. 

He felt obliged to point this out to ICAC because his "policy at the bar has always been not to feed fodder to the media directly from my lips". 

The transcript is a delight. See more here 

And you can see Andrew in action as the Ephor of K300, outlining the core values of this organisation ... 

Ephor of K300 Andrew Kostopoulos from Orama Communications on Vimeo.

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Ian Lazar got an extended run on last week's Four Corners (April 7) . 
 
Reporter Linton Besser examined the subterranean world of unregulated lending and in particular the activities of Lazar, who targets those in distressed financial circumstances: graziers, small-business owners, Aboriginal communities and even high profile types like Kevin Jacobsen, the concert promoter.

Lazar chillingly explained: 

"It's very sad when anybody loses money, whether you're a young person, an old person, a sick person, but business is business - I'm not trying to run or pass any kind of morality test." 

Many of these "clients" end-up far worse off after a brush with Lazar, yet ASIC doesn't police the business-to-business practices of those who operate outside the formal lending system. 

You can see Lazar's response to the program here 

Just after Four Corners went to air, JusticeLink posted online a judgment of Judy Gibson DCJ in Crepe Myrtle Pty Ltd v Rural Security Holdings Pty Ltd.  

She awarded the plaintiff $185,000 plus interest of $30,829 and struck out the defendant's defence and cross-claim. 

Rural Security Holdings is one of Lazar's associated entities and he wanted the case adjourned because he said he was suffering from cancer and had been rushed to hospital. 

However, the plaintiff tendered a photograph of the mortgage trader at a Christmas party, with Angeline Aamariah, his fiancée, sitting on his lap. 

Lazar and fiancée - tendered photoAppropriately, the soirée was held at the Trademark Hotel, an Ibrahim-Sandilands watering hole in Kings Cross. 

The snap was taken at a time Lazar claimed to be too ill to attend to the requirements of the litigation. 

In addition, the plaintiff tendered media releases and web postings by Lazar's interests, boasting about the extraordinary wheeling and dealing associated with this little charmer. 
 
A case where the booster bombs. 

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Speaking of self-promotors, you may have seen the online ads that pop-up everywhere, even on Australian news sites, for Vardags Solicitors "Britain's Top Divorce Lawyer".  

The website depicts a parade of rum looking London divorce lawyers.  

Even more spellbinding are the announcements online of the wedding arrangements for the firm's principal, Ms Ayesha Vardag. 

See: The Marriage of Stephen Bence and Ayesha Vardag. 

Stephen & Ayesha: big day ahead

This is information that should be treasured, including a snap of the engagement ring, details of the mass at Winchester Cathedral, pictures of the Bence-Vardag home with horses grazing on lawns fit for croquet and some tips on the dress code for the happy day.  
 
Ms Vardag's understated style is an inspiration for all lawyers planning to promote their weddings online.