Two Sydney personal injury lawyers have been found guilty of professional misconduct for publishing prohibited adverts urging patients of a renegade surgeon to seek their advice. The pair have been fined $96,000.
In 2008 Lee Hagipantelis and Robert Bryden, of Brydens Compensation Lawyers, ran ads in newspapers and on their website urging victims of disgraced gynaecologist Graeme Reeves to join a class action. Reeves, dubbed the "Butcher of Bega," was eventually jailed in 2011 for mutilating a number of his female patients.
Brydens' ad, headlined 'Important Notice to the Victims of the "Butcher of Bega," claimed the firm was "accepting a maximum of 50 clients for this action and the number of places is filling fast, so don't miss out". Unfortunately for Brydens under strict Aussie regulations lawyers are banned from advertising personal injury services. Authorities closed down the campaign and charged the two partners with professional misconduct.
Hagipantelis and Bryden tried to shift the blame onto a non-lawyer staffer by claiming that he ran the ads "without authority". They also insisted, slightly alarmingly, that they had never used or even looked at their website and so had no idea the ads existed.
But the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal took a dim view and deemed the pair "less than frank and overly defensive", which probably won't make it into the list of glowing testimonials on Brydens' website.
Tip Off ROF
In 2008 Lee Hagipantelis and Robert Bryden, of Brydens Compensation Lawyers, ran ads in newspapers and on their website urging victims of disgraced gynaecologist Graeme Reeves to join a class action. Reeves, dubbed the "Butcher of Bega," was eventually jailed in 2011 for mutilating a number of his female patients.
Brydens' ad, headlined 'Important Notice to the Victims of the "Butcher of Bega," claimed the firm was "accepting a maximum of 50 clients for this action and the number of places is filling fast, so don't miss out". Unfortunately for Brydens under strict Aussie regulations lawyers are banned from advertising personal injury services. Authorities closed down the campaign and charged the two partners with professional misconduct.
 |
That banned ad in full |
Hagipantelis and Bryden tried to shift the blame onto a non-lawyer staffer by claiming that he ran the ads "without authority". They also insisted, slightly alarmingly, that they had never used or even looked at their website and so had no idea the ads existed.
But the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal took a dim view and deemed the pair "less than frank and overly defensive", which probably won't make it into the list of glowing testimonials on Brydens' website.