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1: Simic & Norton [2017] FamCA 1007 | December 11, 2017
Court or Tribunal: 
Catchwords: Costs, Lawyer Complaints, Legal fees, Professional Misconduct
Judges:  Benjamin J


Background: A Family Court judge has delivered a blistering judgment on the “culture of bitter, adversarial and highly aggressive family law litigation” in Sydney and blasted two law firms for charging “outrageous” fees. 
 
  [Legal Issue]Justice Benjamin said the couple, given the pseudonyms Mr Simic and Ms Norton, had spent an “eye-watering” $860,000 in the proceedings and “these amounts are, on their face, outrageous levels of costs for ordinary people involved in family law proceedings”. The Hobart-based judge took aim at the “win at all costs, concede little or nothing, chase every rabbit down every hole and hang the consequences approach to family law litigation” he had observed in Sydney and the culture of “bitter, adversarial and highly aggressive family law litigation”.   [Court Orders]IT IS DIRECTED A Registrar of this Court forward to the Legal Services Commission of New South Wales the following documents:- (a) a sealed copy of this order; (b) a copy of the reasons upon which this order is based; and (c) a copy of the submissions made by or on behalf of each of the Applicant and Respondent in respect of the question as to whether to refer the solicitors to the Legal Services Commission of New South Wales. IT IS REQUESTED The Legal Services Commission of New Sout     


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