Chafei had sued Keddies, claiming he had been overcharged over a personal injury claim… Chafei dismissed her lawyers [Firth Lawyers] and settled the case directly with Keddies. [On 26 September] lawyers for Firth, Keddies and Chafei clashed in court… Firth has asked the court to refer the matter to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner and the Law Society of NSW.
Quite remarkably, the Chafei case is just one of “about 100″ overcharging cases Keddies is currently fighting, all being run by Firths. It would be interesting to know whether the slew of overcharging claims is affecting the delivery of the Slater & Gordon acquisition consideration. You’ll recall:
The four Keddies businesses in NSW and one in Queensland will be integrated into Slater & Gordon’s structure. The purchase is expected to be finished by mid-January 2011, subject to a formal agreement and due diligence. Of the $35 million consideration, it will comprise $3.7 million in shares, the absorption of Keddies $11 million debt and the balance in cash, with some of the cash component held for up to 30 months
Held up for 30 months? That could be as late as 2013. Little wonder, Slaters probably wants to distance itself from:
- the Keddies lawyer recently convicted of female police-officer assault;
- the allegation that the firm unnecesarily incurred costs;
- the fact that three Keddies partners were charged with unprofessional conduct as a result of overcharging;
- the rumour the firm slashed many jobs during the GFC; and
- further allegations that the firm has been overcharging clients.
Send the Firm Spy your news and views!
Loading...
The remedy here is simple – the partners of Slater and Gordon should pay out all Keddies claims, full stop. The shareholders should not have to wear it, nor the clients. Its the partners that made the decision to buy into Keddies and they should wear the consequences.
Johnson – you are forgetting Slaters no longer has “partners” as such, only major shareholders.
Noob johnson is noob