Reclaiming history

New record for Roughshagger … Law Society goes the extra mile for an old mate … Defenders grapple with "evidence of silence" … The Australian's bereft partnership survey … Malcolm Turnbull's marvellous air-brushing machine … Soapy out of the shadows 

Justice Refshauge: careful tenancy jurisprudence

IS this a record for Justice Roughshagger in the ACT Supremes? 

He heard a tenancy dispute on April 1-2, 2009 and delivered judgment on June 26, 2013.  

Four-and-a-bit years to decide that a public housing tenant shouldn't be turfed out of his home. 

It took 219 paragraphs, involved an avalanche of citations and traversed the legal landscape from tenancy law, administrative law, rights of appeal and certiorari. 

Another instance where, "the torpid languor of one hand washes the drowsy procrastination of the other". 

For more details see: Slow boat up the Molonglo  

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IT'S touching to see NSW Law Society resources being harnessed beyond the call of duty. 

Into Justinian's email inbox popped a missive from Jacob O'Shaughnessy, the engaging and helpful PR man at the society. 

Only the press release wasn't anything to do with the society at all. 

It was a pressing announcement from Watts McCray that it had appointed Anthony Hercock, a management and marketing man, as a non-lawyer partner. 

The chairman of the chain of divorce shops, Justin Dowd, is the society's immediate past president and sits on the council. 

The press release was full of the traditional puffery and corporate babble, with Mr Hercok saying: 

"Watts McCray is a terrific firm with highly intelligent professional people. As a brand we can go anywhere we wish because the business model we are implementing delivers exceptional results ..." blah, blah, blah. 

Maybe we're over-indulging in pickiness, but should the Law Society media facilities be used to enable the former president's law firm to beat its hairy chest in public? 

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NSW Public Defenders have swung into action on the new "evidence of silence" legislation.  

This is one hell of a hot button issue for the criminal defence industry. 

A flyer went out summoning interested parties to a chin-wag with guru Colin Wells from 25 Bedford Row Chambers in Blighty.  

His chambers has a flourishing while collar crim business.  

Wells gave a spiel on "how English and Welsh legal practitioners operate in the context of the curtailed right to silence". 

There was also a panel discussion with Ken Averre (MBE) and Troy Edwards on "lessons there may be for us from the English experience".

Ken and Troy previously practised in the Dart and are now plying their trade at Forbes Chambers - nestling atop the Bambini Trust Cafe & Bar. 

The important thing that was, no doubt, to the fore was how the Poms tip-toe through the adverse inferences that flow from the abolition of a suspect's right to remain shtum. 

Our field agent tried to penetrate this secretive jamboree, however was told it was only for card carrying members of the club. 

The NSW legislation has passed through parliament, but the government has yet to fire the starter's pistol on s.89A of the Evidence Act. 

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FRIDAY'S newspaper score (July 5). 

Australian Financial Review's legal affairs section - partnership survey: seven pages; 12 ads (plus an ad from Herbert Smith Freehills expressing condolences on the death of Kathryn Everett). 

The Australian's legal affairs section - partnership survey: two pages; one (tiny) advertisement (plus the condolence notice). 

The Oz's legal affairs has all but vanished. Only with determination can it be found tucked between business, sport and aviation. 

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Turnbull spinning yarns to his adoring audience

MALCOLM Turnbull has been out and about with his industrial strength air-brushing equipment. 

On Tuesday (July 2) he did the book launch honours for Fairfax - The Rise and Fall, by former Financial Review editor Colleen Ryan. 

See the speech here, with a nice little correction in the comments from Nicholas Whitlam (formerly from The Nick & Nifty Bank). 

The MP's speech was about the importance of journalism - but the emollient didn't stop there.

News reporting and investigations, he declared, were as important to democracy as all the members of the federal parliament put together. 

It was up to Colleen to remind the spellbound audience that it was Turnbull who was behind the pulping of the first edition of her earlier book about Fairfax, Corporate Cannibals. 

That book dealt with the Tourang Consortium's bid to takeover Fairfax, with Turnbull's involvement on behalf of the junk bond holders. 

Air brushed from the glowing self-portrayal of Malcolm's heroic role was the unfortunate turn of events exposed by Four Corners in 2008.   

Packer regarded Turnbull as a liability and dumped him from the consortium.

Thereafter the young investment banker secretly exposed to the Broadcasting Tribunal that his old boss would not be a passive investor in Fairfax, as widely believed, but actually wanted to control the show. 

Also, on Tuesday (July 2) we turned on the telly to find a star-struck Annabel Crabb doing a turn of Kitchen Cabinet at Turnbull's spread in Scone.  

Sitting under a tree next to a bleak looking pond the shadow minister for communications expounded on his role as the saviour of Kerry Packer during the Costigan Commission's Goanna phase. 

All very entranching, except for the tiny omission of the ill-conceived defamation action Turnbull concocted on behalf of Packer against Doug Meagher QC, counsel assisting Costigan. 

Just before the commencement of the action Turnbull issued a statement: 

"Meagher and Costigan have conducted themselves most reprehensibly in failing to stop an unauthorised and illegal leak of information which was inevitably going to do immense or irreparable damage to the reputation of Kerry Packer." 

Justice David Hunt put the pup-lawyer in his place, striking out the claim as an abuse of process saying Turnbull's announcement had, "managed effectively thereby to poison the fountain of justice immediately before the commencement of proceedings".  

The creation of a knight in shining armour involves getting rid of old stains with a strong scrubbing brush and gallons of carbolic. 

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Politician Hodgman: Vaseline man

HARDLY two minutes respectful silence had passed to mark the shuffle of Michael Hodgman QC from this mortal coil, before historians were checking their files for forgotten chapters of the great Taswegian's racy history. 

A keen reader passed me a copy of Gabrielle Carey book Just Us (1984). Among Ms Carey's literary oeuvre was the legendary Puberty Blues. 

Just Us was the story of the plight of a prisoner Terry Haley, whom Carey had married in Parramatta Gaol. 

Poor Haley was caught in the system. He was unable to apply for parole as he had earlier charges to face in South Australia. 

At the time he was required to serve all his head sentence in NSW and then be extradited to SA. 

Into the frame waltzes Hodgman. Carey met him at a conference and he said he would be able to help with Haley's case. 

He was not named directly in the book, but foreign minister Bill Hayden later dropped his name under parliamentary privilege. 

The author explains that the politician-lawyer became quite solicitous towards her, even to the extent of one day ringing from Canberra to say he was on his way to Sydney and could he stay the night and discuss Haley's situation. 

After a bit of patting on the knee he told Carey that he'd written to the attorney general about the case and handed her a clump of letters. 

Hodgman was shown the spare room, and the author records: 

"The following morning he was up about six-thirty. I made him some tea and toast in the roofless kitchen. I began explaining how the gas-operated shower worked but he waved me away saying, 'Oh I used to have one of these on the farm, when I was young. We've all been poor once you know.' 

The door on the shower was not terribly sturdy or reliable and while he was shaving it flew open from the force of the draught. 

He was applying massive handfuls of Vaseline to his face. 'Wonderful stuff this,' he commented. 'That's why I've got such good skin for my age. I've been putting this on every morning since I was fourteen,' he gleamed." 

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Oxford days: Abbott and Brandis THE profile of shadow AG Soapy Brandis "QC" in the Good Weekend (July 6) confirmed our deepest concerns. 

A compromiser with limitless "self-belief"; a "moderate" with no voice on asylum seekers and who opposes a charter of rights; a man who dumps his friends. 

All of which has helped Soapy to the higher reaches of the Liberal Party.  

The disappointing thing is that, "Those who know him well insist occasional gossip about Brandis's sexuality is baseless". 

If he had identified as a gay man he might have had more humanity and be less of a stitched-up, "pompous git". 

His 1978 honours thesis at the University of Queensland says it all: 

"An interpretation of the ideology of the Liberal Party of Australia."