Supreme Court of Riverview

Breach of 13th Amendment by Sydney chambers ... Silk's beach pad sale ...Voyagering around the law ... Glee for sol-general ... Fresh old blood injected into NSW Supremes  

Applying for a job at 3 Wentworth

THE Steve Spielberg epic Lincoln showed the manoeuvring and vote buying that went on to get the abolition of slavery through Congress. 

Yet, in small pockets of civilisation slavery flourishes. 

Level 3 Wentworth has had an advertisement on Seek for a part-time receptionist. 

The pay is $295 a week and the hours are from 8.30am to 1.30pm five days a week. 

That's under $12 an hour, which seems to be a tiny amount of money for 25 hours work a week for 17 barristers. 

Duties include answering the phone, directing incoming calls, greeting clients, delivering and collecting mail, banking, filing and other clerical duties - all under the baton of the floor manager. 

They are looking for someone who is well-presented, has a pleasant phone manner and be familiar with standard computer applications. 

All for $12 an hour. 

The advertisement has been there at least since the beginning of February - and last we looked it's still there. 

Wot takers?  

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Casa Tobin

TERRY Tobin, the wily defamation silk, chancellor of Notre Dame Uni and former journalist, whose family buried the faithful in Melbourne, has his colossal six-bedroom Spanish Mission-style Palm Beach hacienda on the market for $9 million. 

Tobes bought the 1,426 square-metre block in 1983 for $700,000. 

The real estate pitch describes Ville d'Este as having "an open loggia with barley twist columns … arched windows, bay windows and wrought iron detailing". 

There's also a billiard room. 

There's an awful lot of property on the market up on the peninsula, so Terry may be susceptible to an quick offer. 

The palace rents for $1700 a night, not within a bulls roar of the great silk's daily rate in Phillip Street. 

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DAVID Forster, the Victorian solicitor done for gouging victims of the Voyager disaster, is still putting-up a merry chase. 

VicAppeals heard on February 5 his appeal from a VCAT decision by Iain Ross J cancelling his ticket. 

There are another seven complaints about him before VCAT and they have been shifted from February to October 2013. 

The receiver is trying to extract $9,000,000 from his law shop, the appropriately named Hollows, and there is a further hearing on those issues in June. 

The delays are mind numbing. 

Meanwhile, victims/claimants are getting older and dying. 

In December Karin Emerton J found Forster in contempt for breaching orders that he was to keep away from lawyers retained by the LSB.  

He got one month in the nick, suspended for 12 months.  

The evidence was extraordinary, revealing Forster writing a string of nutty letters and getting into the face of Legal Service Board's barrister, Kristine Hanscombe SC - calling her a "monster", in an intimidating way. 

He also suggested she withdraw from the matter and that she was in breach of the bar rules. 

He sounds a bit strung-out and it must be quite worrying for his sister, Justice Marcia Neave. 

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FLORAL tributes were flung high into air at the news that Justin Gleeson has secured a five year term as Australia's 10th solicitor general.  

Next stop, Gar's Mahal? 

Before his appointment as acting sol-general in October he was chairman of the committee working on the NSW bar 'n' grill's quest for a new strategy. 

Not much has been heard recently about this exciting initiative, but Justin thought that Justinian "had crossed the line" in publishing private responses from the rank and file to the draft strategic plan. 

So much so that he said he was not renewing his subscription to this mighty organ. 

It's the first time we'd heard the proposition that the media is forbidden to poke its nose into other people's confidential biz. 

There was also a bit of drama in 2008 when he resigned as treasurer and from the bar council, accusing the then president Anna Katzmann, now HH Justice Katzperson, of trying to muzzle him over issuing details about the grill's dire financial position and fee increases.   

He said at the time: 

"Frankly I was flabbergasted that an organisation could be run in this way. Any councillor should be allowed to raise matters for consideration. An executive member, with responsibility under the constitution for finances, should not be refused the chance to raise an important matter."  

We wish him well working alongside the glorious future AG, George (Soapy) Brandis (Qld). 

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Major Gen Hoeben: CJ @ CLTHE Supreme Court of Riverview has secured some necessary reinforcement with old-boy Major General Clifton Hoeben RFD moving to fill Peter McClelland's slot as the chief judge at common law. 

Hoeben was in the same year at St Iggy's with Baffo Bathurst CJ. 

The significant different was that the Major General was dux of the school and captain of the premiership debating team, while Baffo was not. 

See Anyone for tennis?  

Something more will have to be done to reinforce the numbers, as the court only has nine from the Jesuit academy serving as judges.  

See Crime scenes  

Word on the track is that Peter McClelland is unlikely to come back to the court after his gruelling years listening to and weighing evidence about covering-up for pedophiles. 

The senior puisne judge is Carolyn Simpson J and it is not known how excited she has been about Cliff's appointment. 

And what's to be made of Arthur Emmett's sideways translation from the Federal Court to the Supremes on March 7? 

He's been judging at the Federal Court since 1997 and would have to retire from that bench on October 1 this year. 

This reshuffle will give him two-and-a-half more years at the Supremes. 

Why was such a short term arrangement made?