Carberry and Delaney

In the District Court of New South Wales, His Honour Judge Faulks DCJ considered an application by the husband seeking an injunction to restrain the law firm Dobinson Davey Clifford Simpson from continuing to represent the wife in family law proceedings. The dispute arose from the wife's engagement of the firm, which had previously employed Ms Osmand, a former employee of the firm representing the husband. The husband contended that Ms Osmand's prior involvement with his legal team created a conflict of interest, necessitating the disqualification of the wife's new solicitors.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the circumstances surrounding Ms Osmand's departure from the husband's solicitors and her subsequent employment by the wife's solicitors gave rise to a conflict of interest that warranted an injunction. Specifically, the court had to determine if there was a real risk that confidential information obtained by Ms Osmand during her employment with the husband's solicitors could be misused by her new firm, thereby prejudicing the husband's case.

His Honour Judge Faulks DCJ dismissed the husband's application for an injunction. The court reasoned that while Ms Osmand had access to confidential information, the risk of such information being disclosed could be adequately managed through appropriate undertakings and conditions. The court applied the principles governing conflicts of interest in legal representation, focusing on the need to protect confidential information and maintain public confidence in the legal profession. The court ordered that the wife's solicitors could continue to represent her, provided that Ms Osmand signed an undertaking confirming she had not and would not provide confidential information about the husband to any member of her new firm, and that no employee of the firm would seek such information from her.