A champertous retainer agreement between solicitor and client in NSW is void only to the extent of its inconsistency with s 188 of the Legal Profession Act 1987, not in its entirety. The court will not reinstate the ex turpi causa maxim to strike down the whole agreement where the legislature has specified the extent of invalidity. However, where a retainer agreement legitimately makes recovery contingent on a successful outcome and the solicitor terminates the retainer before that outcome, the solicitor cannot recover costs either under an implied term or on a quantum meruit, because the contractual allocation of risk precludes such recovery. Senior counsel's knowledge of facts relevant to apprehended bias is imputable to the client, and failure to object at the commencement of the hearing constitutes waiver.
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