Lin v Zhou

Lin and others brought an action against Zhou and others, seeking damages for loss and damage, and an injunction against the defendants, including solicitors, from acting in certain proceedings in the District Court of New South Wales. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, and provided false or misleading information, in relation to the provision of migration and visa services. The court had to determine whether the defendants, including the solicitors, should be restrained from acting for the plaintiffs' former clients in the proceedings in the District Court.

The court examined the relationship between the plaintiffs and the solicitors, and found that there was no existing retainer between the solicitors and the plaintiffs. The first plaintiff had advised that the solicitors could not act for him and that he should seek separate legal representation. The court also considered whether the plaintiffs had disclosed confidential information to the solicitors, and found that no solicitor-client relationship or expectation of confidentiality existed at the relevant times, and that the information was not confidential. The court concluded that there were no grounds to restrain the solicitors from acting for the plaintiffs' former clients in the proceedings in the District Court.

The court further found that the plaintiffs' claim for injunctive relief was premature, as the plaintiffs had not yet commenced the proceedings in the District Court, and that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that they were likely to succeed in those proceedings. The court dismissed the plaintiffs' application for injunctive relief and for an order restraining the defendants, including the solicitors, from acting for the plaintiffs' former clients in the proceedings in the District Court. The plaintiffs were ordered to pay the defendants' costs of the application.