Judgement in Keddies Matter

On 24 June 2011 the District Court of New South Wales awarded damages of $160,000 plus interest and costs to Mr Stavre Bazdarov, who sued his former law firm, Keddies, for overcharging.  Once interest is included, the ultimate damages award is likely to be well over $200,000.

Mr Bazdarov, who is suffering from lung cancer, gave evidence during the trial wearing a breathing device and with the assistance of morphine medication.  Although too ill to attend Court to receive judgment, Mr Bazdarov said he was very happy with the result.

Keddies had acted for Mr Bazdarov in relation to a medical negligence claim arising from medical complications following a hernia operation in 2002.  Mr Bazdarov’s medical negligence claim settled for $450,000 on 14 November 2005, which was the first day of the hearing.  According to the amended statement of claim, Mr Bazdarov received $153,417.94 from that settlement, and Keddies received $290,344.01.

Judge Ashford held that the costs and disbursements charged by Keddies were based on a Keddies “Fees Ledger” which contained “numerous examples of overcharging, double charging and entries which could not be substantiated.”  The Judge noted that Keddies’ partners and employees widely charged at hourly rates higher than those agreed with Mr Bazdarov.  Keddies’ argument that the Fees Ledger was nothing more than an “aide memoire” was rejected by the Judge.

The Judge found that Keddies, by not complying with various provisions of the Legal Profession Act 1987, were only entitled to costs which were fair and reasonable. 

Judge Ashford awarded damages in favour of Mr Bazdarov on the basis that $135,248.40 was the fair and reasonable amount he should have been charged (compared to the amount of $290,344.01 he was charged).  A report from legal costs consultant, Mary Whelan, whom the Judge described as “eminently qualified” to provide an expert opinion in this case, concluded that $100,542.10 was a fair and reasonable amount for Mr Bazdarov to have been charged by Keddies.

In her judgment, the Judge observed that the only witness called by Keddies, a former employee of the law firm, “could not explain how items such as consideration of a cheque occupying three six minute units could be substantiated nor perusal of a cheque for a period of six minutes…”

The barristers for Mr Bazdarov, Geoffrey Watson SC and Greg O’Mahoney, argued that the fees charged by Keddies were “excessive” and in breach of the costs agreement Mr Bazdarov entered into with Keddies.

Mr Bazdarov was represented by Firths, who are acting on behalf of a large number of former Keddies clients seeking to recover amounts they were allegedly overcharged.

Click here to view a copy of the judgement.

Mediation Cancelled

The Mediation with Keddies that had been scheduled for the 8^th and 9^th June 2011 has been cancelled because we were not satisfied that Keddies were serious in their desire to finalise these matters.

Consequently we are continuing with our cases on behalf of former clients of Keddies.  We have now commenced proceedings in 60 cases claiming amounts of between $20,000 and over $500,000 against Keddies.

Update on Keddies

8 and 9 June 2011 has been set as the date for mediation of all overcharging matters brought against Keddies.  Mr John Clarke QC formerly a Justice of the New South Wales Court of Appeal has consented to act as mediator.  

If there are any former Keddies' clients who would like to participate in the mediation please contact our office to register your interest as a matter of urgency.

Ex-Keddie Client Settlement Proposal

We have been acting for a number of clients of the law firm Keddies in relation to claims of overcharging.  We have commenced court proceedings in about 50 cases and have now successfully concluded 6. 

You may not be aware of this, but Slater and Gordon have taken over the firm Keddies and they have now contacted us to try and arrange a global settlement of all our claims with Keddies. We have received a letter from Slater and Gordon which outlines their settlement proposal.  For more details contact us.  Anyone who settled their case with Keddies in the last 6 years would be eligible to participate.  If you would like to participate in the settlement then please contact us. 

The date for the mediation has been finalised now for the 8 and 9 June 2011.  Mr John Clarke QC, formerly a Judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal has been assigned to act as mediator.  If you are an ex Keddies' client and believe you may have been overcharged and you would like to participate then it would be advisable to contact us as soon as possible.

95 Year Old Keddies Victim Achieves Justice

95 year old Margaret Shuetrim finally achieve Justice in the District Court of New South Wales when on 6 April 2011 her claim against Keddies was settled for the sum of $75,000 plus costs.

Keddies had acted for Margaret in relation to a claim arising our of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident on 18 December 2003. The claim was a very simple one and on 24 November 2005 Keddies settled it for the sum of $150,000 all-inclusive. Despite the fact that no court proceedings were ever commenced that did not stop Keddies from charging Margaret $66,747.51 in costs and disbursements. When the family eventually contacted us we advised them that in our opinion Margaret had been badly overcharged by Keddies. According to our calculations the only amount Keddies were entitled to for costs and disbursements was $18,111.95. The difference between this and the amount that Keddies had charged came to $48,635.56. In addition we claimed interest for Margaret which came to a further $24,452.34 which made a total claim of $73,105.90.

When we commenced proceedings against Keddies to recover this money as you would expect they fought long and hard. To begin with we said we would accept $60,000 plus costs but Keddies wouldn't accept that. We then said we would accept $50,000 plus costs but Keddies wouldn't accept that either. Consequently the claim was set down for hearing. However when the case came on for hearing rather than explain to the court how it was that they had overcharged Margaret by so much Keddies were suddenly very interested in trying to settle the case.  Their final offer was $75,000 plus costs. In other words they were now offering everything Margaret was entitled to and then some over and above that. Needless to say Margaret was very very happy to take what they were offering to finalise her claim against Keddies.

This is just the latest in a long line of cases that we are running on behalf of former clients of the firm Keddies to recover back amounts that they have been overcharged. Most people think that if it has been more then 12 months they are out of time but this case proves that we can go back up to 6 years for clients who have been overcharged by Keddies.