The Hyde of this Page boy

Red Mess in Rome ... HP apologises to president of NSW bar for "rash and immature" statements ... K & W Mallesons - the power of together with journalists ... Solicitor caught on ICAC tap in dastardly plot with mayor 

Cardinal Burke: deeply concerned about homosexuality
IMAGINE the ripple of excitement that swept through the ranks of delegates to the ABA's recent Rome chin-wag and knees-up. 

There was an invitation from Australia's ambassador to the Holy See, and Bob Carr's favourite Catholic, HE John McCarthy QC, to enjoy a tour of the embassy and attend a Red Mass.

Ambassador McCarthy was in sparkling form as he led the faithful barristers into a beautiful old church to be sermonised by an Irish-American called Cardinal Raymond Burke. 

It soon became apparent that Burkie was from the Old School and that the assembled briefs were getting an earful about the evils of abortion and the sanctity of life even before the moment of conception. 

Restlessness in the ranks mounted as the Cardinal moved onto another of his favourites - the empowering force of marriage for life and the beastly ways of homosexuals. 

Just before he was about to launch into a rebuttal of some of Copernicus' dangerous notions a bunch of the ABA's finest could bear it no more and bolted towards the door and out into the sunlight, leaving Burke thundering to a small handful of devotees. 

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MINUTES of meetings of the NSW bar and grill's inner sanctum are usually so eye-glazing that they remain blissfully unread. 

Except for the minutes of the meeting on Thursday, July 18, 2013, where there was a particularly juicy nugget amid piles of bumph about the pressing issue of the moment - whether barristers can trouser more money by means of a corporate tax fiddle: 

"John Hyde Page apologised to the President and the Bar Council, saying that these statements in his correspondence were rash and immature, and advised that he was happy for this apology to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting and published." 

Hyde Page is a fresh faced member of the bar council and the grovel was necessary because he'd been shafting the president to other members of the Grill, saying that Phillip Boulten had been rounding-up legal opinions about incorporation that only suited the "no" case. 

The minutes put it delicately: 

"The president noted that correspondence from John Hyde Page to members of the Bar advocating the calling of the meeting had disclosed details of bar council discussion and voting on this issue on 6 June, and had misrepresented the president’s approach at that meeting."  

The special meeting on incorporation has been set for September 17 and lobbing is on in earnest for proxy votes with well-padded chaps from the senior common room joining the chorus for bigger tax breaks - Don Grieve, Robert Sheldon and Clive Steirn.  

This is where Page Boy's earlier career as a Young Liberal branch stacker might come in handy. 

The pips are squeaking at the bar and every dollar counts more than it used to. There may well be enough votes to get the resolution to change the rules over the line. 

Those who have looked at the whole issue assure me that it will take more than a change in the bar rules before incorporated barristering becomes a reality. 

Insurance, immunity from suit and the regulatory regime would all have to be reconfigured. 

The Legal Profession Act has a lot to say about incorporated legal practices which means that if the resolution is successful, horror of horrors, barristers will be subjected to the same regulatory regime as incorporated solicitor shops. 

Yukky-poos. 

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CHINESE law shop King & Wood Mallesons got good value from its investment in flying reptiles of the local press to Hong Kong, wining and dining them, putting them up in a flash pub and flying them home. 

Alex Boxsell from the Financial Review and Chris Merritt from The Australian endured the experience in order to report first hand on the breathtaking announcement that KWM had gobbled up British law shop SJ Berwin. 

Boxsell in the paper's legal affairs section had a sober piece assessing the merger and what might be the next expansion for the giant squid: America, Singapore, Mars? 

This was followed a week later by a look at how law firm competition in Honkers was heating-up. 

However, Merritt was over-the moon about the deal: 

"[King & Wood Mallesons] challenged the accepted thinking about the future of law firms. This week's merger with Britain's SJ Berwin means that the challenge is now deafening - particularly for the big firms of Europe and the US. 

This Australian-Chinese firm - and its new arm in Europe - looks set to eat the most enticing part of their lunch ... 

They created an international organisation of their own that is designed for the future ... 

To criticise the deal because SJ Berwin is not from the Magic Circle is to miss the point ..." 

Yes, everything is brilliant - although not everyone is quite so enthusiastic. 

RollOnFriday posted a comment from one of the firm's galley slaves: 

"Culture of extremely late nights with no recognition beyond 'thank you'." 

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Belling: "manna from heaven"

THE NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has been causing merry hell for lawyers faithfully plying their trade for dodgy characters. 

The latest before the Star Chamber is Bryan Belling - a former Abbott Tout partner, now at K&L Gates. 

The mayor of Ryde, Ivan Petch, had told council general manager John Neish his job would be secure if he delayed a contract with Lend Lease for redevelopment of the Ryde Civic Precinct. 

Neish declined the offer, so Perch turned to Belling to assist in forcing the GM to quit. 

Phone intercepts caught Petch and Belling discussing a brilliant scheme - using a CD of porn that had been collected from the internet by Neish's council-issued computer. 

The porn had been gathered from "adult websites" and there was nothing illegal about the contents. 

Still, Petchy and the wily Belling thought it was enough to embarrass Neish into resigning if the racy contents were released publicly. 

It was a brilliantly conceived scheme. 

Petch is caught saying that the CD should be released to "the national press" ... and it would "destroy him absolutely". 

Belling thought the CD was "manna from heaven" and added that he had "a lot of mates at the Tele" that could assist. 

"That's the place you'd publish, because they love this stuff." 

Clearly, Belling is at the cutting-edge of workplace law. 

The long-time solicitor urged Petch to carefully check the porn, "so we don't end up with bloody egg on our face".

He told ICAC that neither he nor Petch went to the press with this allegedly juicy material, whereas in fact Robbie Patterson from one of Rupert's papers, The Northern District Times, did receive the CD from the leaky mayor. 

Patterson told the inquiry that he didn't run the story because it was "not appropriate". 

A first for a Rupert newspaper. 

The inquiry grinds on with assistant commissioner Theresa Hamilton presiding and Jason Dowling counsel assisting. 

Chin-up Belling.