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Le v Angius

Le v Angius

Case [2022] NSWSC 1150 30 August 2022

Confidentiality

Professional Conduct

Administration of Justice

Ethics & Legal Profession

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Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Le v Angius [2022] NSWSC 1150
Hearing dates: 10 June 2022
Date of orders: 30 August 2022
Decision date: 30 August 2022
Jurisdiction: Equity
Before: Richmond J
Decision:
The notice of motion is dismissed with costs.

Catchwords:
OCCUPATIONS — legal practitioners — solicitors — former client — where there is insufficient evidence to engage court’s supervisory jurisdiction to restrain legal practitioners from acting to preserve confidential information — whether solicitors should be restrained from acting for the protection of the administration of justice

Legislation Cited:
Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) ss 63, 69
Succession Act 2006 (NSW) ss 57(1), 59(1),100
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) rr 17.2, 17.3

Cases Cited:
Carindale Country Club Estate Pty Ltd v Astill (1993) 42 FCR 307
Indjic v Stojanovic [2020] NSWSC 470
Italiano v Lake [2015] VSC 189
Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298; [1959] HCA 8
Kallinicos v Hunt (2005) 64 NSWLR 561; [2005] NSWSC 1181
Koellner v Spicer [2019] NSWSC 1571
Mitchell v Burrell [2008] NSWSC 772
Prince Jefri Bolkiah v KPMG (a firm) [1999] 2 AC 222

Texts Cited:
Practice Note SC Eq 7

Category: Procedural rulings
Parties: Thi Quy Le (Plaintiff)
Jenny Angius (Defendant)
Representation:
Counsel:
Mr L Ellison SC (Plaintiff)
Ms E Picker (Defendant)
Solicitors:
AKN & Associates (Plaintiff)
Mills Oakley (Defendant)

File Number(s): 2022/41064

JUDGMENT

This is an interlocutory application in proceedings brought by the plaintiff, Thi Quy Le, for a family provision order under Chapter 3 of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) (the Act) against the defendant, Jenny Angius, who is the executrix of the estate of the late John Angius. By a Notice of Motion filed on 24 February 2022, the defendant seeks to restrain the plaintiff’s solicitors, AKN & Associates Pty Limited (AKN), or its directors or employed solicitors, from continuing to act as solicitors for the plaintiff in these proceedings.

Background

The deceased was born in October 1936 in Italy. He came to Australia in 1957 or 1958 and around the same time married his wife, Laura. Together they had two children, Robert and the defendant. The deceased’s wife Laura died in January 2012. He did not remarry and died on 31 January this year at the age of 85.
The deceased left a will dated 21 April 2021, which appoints the defendant as sole executrix and leaves the entirety of his estate to the defendant.
The deceased’s estate is very significant with a value in excess of $30 million, reflecting the fact that over a number of years the deceased and Laura accumulated substantial real estate holdings, primarily in various suburbs of Sydney but also in other parts of New South Wales. The properties were either held by them personally as joint tenants or through companies which they controlled.
The plaintiff, Thi Quy Le, was born in March 1963. She claims that she and the deceased lived together in a de facto relationship for the last 10 years…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Le v Angius

Details

AGLC: Le v Angius [2022] NSWSC 1150
Case: [2022] NSWSC 1150
Decision Date: 30 August 2022

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Le and Angius are the parties to this case. The dispute involves allegations of improper conduct by the defendants, who are legal practitioners, in relation to a former client. The court was tasked with determining whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction to restrain the defendants from acting in a manner that could potentially compromise the confidentiality of information and the administration of justice. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the evidence presented was sufficient to justify the court's intervention in restraining the defendants from acting in a way that could potentially harm the confidentiality of client information and the administration of justice. The court was required to consider the principles of professional responsibility, confidentiality, and the appropriate exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction.

The court held that the evidence presented did not meet the threshold required to engage the court's supervisory jurisdiction. The defendants' actions, while possibly imprudent, did not reach the level of impropriety or breach of professional responsibility that would warrant such intervention. The court emphasised the importance of maintaining confidentiality and the administration of justice but found that the evidence did not support the imposition of restraints on the defendants' actions. The court's decision was grounded in the need to balance the rights of the parties with the broader public interest in the integrity of the legal profession. The court dismissed the application, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to justify the restraint sought by the applicant.

Orders