Kyriackou v Commonwealth Bank of Australia

[2009] VSCA 241

Victorian Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

See how it works

Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Legal Practitioners
2. › Solicitors
3. › Restraint from acting
4. › Confidential information of former client
5. › Whether employee of solicitors obtained confidential information while employed by defendant's former solicitors
6. › Whether adverse inference properly drawn from failure to produce evidence
1. Legal Practitioners
2. › Solicitors
3. › Restraint from acting
4. › Duty of loyalty
5. › Whether duty of loyalty owed to former client breached
6. › Effect of removal of employee from conduct of matter
7. › Whether quarantining sufficient remedy
1. Legal Practitioners
2. › Solicitors
3. › Restraint from acting
4. › Overriding jurisdiction to protect administration of justice
5. › Whether fair-minded reasonably informed member of public would find conduct offensive to notions of fairness and justice
1. Appeal
2. › Standard of appellate review
3. › Findings of fact by trial judge
4. › Whether findings against weight of evidence
5. › Advantage of trial judge in seeing and hearing witnesses

Quick Take

Where a former employee of a client's solicitors joins the opposing party's firm, quarantining the employee from the matter may be sufficient to avoid restraint of the firm from acting, particularly where the employee's involvement with the client's matters was limited and remote from the issues in the proceeding. The removal of the employee from conduct of the matter is a significant factor in the balancing exercise under both the duty of loyalty ground and the overriding jurisdiction ground.