Ex-top silk ‘shunned’ over attempted class action fraud
A top lawyer has fallen out of favor in court after attempting fraud while representing a class action lawsuit, it has been revealed.
Norman O’Bryan’s elderly victims have told how he put them through “seven years of hell”, including being overcharged with legal fees.
The former senior lawyer from one of Victoria’s most respected legal families appeared in the District Court in Melbourne on Thursday after pleading guilty to a charge of attempting to gain financial advantage by deception.
Prosecutors said the 68-year-old falsely inflated legal fees he awarded to members of the Banksia Securities class-action lawsuit and used fake invoices to claim billable hours he did not work.
O’Bryan ceased practicing law in 2021, declared bankruptcy and returned his Order of Australia medal.
His barrister, Neil Clelland KC, said O’Bryan had been “shunned” and ostracized by the legal profession because of the crime.
“He lost just about everything he had to lose,” he said, summing up the professional, personal and financial consequences O’Bryan has faced since then.
The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, but Mr Clelland asked for O’Bryan to be ordered to work in the public sector.
“Mr O’Bryan has already been severely punished,” he said.
“There is no doubt that his behavior was serious and we are making that concession.”
Banksia Securities collapsed in October 2012, owing nearly $663 million to more than 16,000 bondholders, many of whom were elderly and lost their pension funds.
A judge approved a $64 million settlement for class-action members and nearly $20 million in fees and commissions for attorneys, including O’Bryan.
Prosecutor Michael Stanton SC said O’Bryan’s offending came to light after retired nurse and bondholder Wendy Botsman appealed the High Court decision because the legal fees added were excessive.
Mr Stanton said O’Bryan and another lawyer who has since died tried to dissuade Ms Botsman from pursuing her appeal by threatening her with further costs.
Ms Botsman told the court she feared losing her home after receiving the letter.
“The feeling I felt when I finished reading this letter was one I will never forget,” he said in a statement.
“I was stressed, scared and extremely anxious.
“As someone who is divorced and lives alone on a fixed income, my home is not only an asset, it is my security. The prospect of losing it was devastating.”
The appeal was approved and the matter was sent to the Supreme Court, where a judge ruled against O’Bryan in 2021.
Judge John Dixon ordered the forfeiture of more than $20 million, and O’Bryan, who declared bankruptcy during those proceedings, sold his home to repay $1.25 million.
Police began investigating him in 2022 and found O’Bryan was billing class action members while they were overseas or representing other clients in court, including the ACCC.
Another bondholder, Keith Pitman, 90, said the attempted fraud felt like a “slow-motion robbery.”
“It’s been seven years of hell,” he said in a statement.
“I cannot understand how such a respected lawyer as the Queen’s Counsel could think he would get away with such deception.”
Mr Stanton said O’Bryan’s offending brought the legal profession into disrepute.
“This risks eroding justice’s trust in public administration,” he said.
But he accepted O’Bryan’s remorse, his prospects for good rehabilitation, that he was no longer practicing law and that “unnecessary” delays in the matter warranted a prison sentence.
He called for a long community corrections order, with the addition of faith and long community hours.
O’Bryan’s father and grandfather — both named Norman O’Bryan — spent decades as Supreme Court justices in the 20th century.
His brother, Michael O’Bryan, became a Federal Court judge in 2019, and his other brother, Stephen, became a judge in 2003.
O’Bryan will return to court for sentencing on May 14.
