Conduct Adds Insult To Injury - Clients

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday June 13, 2008

Kate McClymont.

Keddies works hard on building its public profile. But for some, the name might be remembered for the wrong reasons, writes Kate McClymont.

RUSSELL KEDDIE always wanted Keddies to be "the brand people remember first when it comes to personal injury law".

With billboards bearing football legend Paul "Fatty" Vautin promoting the firm, along with sponsorship of the "Keddies traffic chopper" with Vic Laruso on Channel Ten's nightly news hour, Keddies has a strong public profile.

According to the firm, recent client surveys have a high percentage of respondents reporting good or excellent service.

But for about 25 angry former plaintiffs who deluged the legal profession's regulator with complaints, the Keddies brand might be remembered for other reasons.

Keddies has been "dedicated to ensuring our clients' rights since 1979", says the firm's website. Back then, the firm's founding partner Russell Keddie was part of a two-man outfit, Hilton Keddie and Associates, which operated from premises next to the historic sandstone court in Redfern's main street.

But behind Mr Keddie's back, his partner Howard Hilton was busy with clients' rights of an illegal nature. Hilton was jailed for bribing the then corrective services minister Rex Jackson to obtain clients' early release from jail.

In mid-1984, as the torrent of bad press about the activities of Hilton and Jackson grew, Mr Keddie hung out his own shingle.

While the firm still retains its original Redfern address, it now has 35 lawyers and 180 employees and five other offices, including Ashfield, Wollongong, Brisbane and Sydney's CBD and is one of the state's largest specialised personal injury law firms.

Mr Keddie, 57, is a keen breeder of Angus cattle at his property Uloola, near Scone. According to the law firm's website, he is "married to Sara Key, M.V.0., physiotherapist, author of The Back Sufferers' Bible ... and physiotherapist to the British Royal Family."

The firm's other partners are Tony Barakat, 47, who is also a martial arts expert, and Scott Roulstone, 48, who is a member of the professional conduct committee of the Law Society of NSW, as well as its junior vice-president.

When dozens of women gathered in the southern NSW town of Bega in March to air their grievances about the activities of Dr Graham Reeves, the rogue obstetrician now dubbed the "Butcher of Bega", Mr Roulstone was on hand to sign up potential clients. It is understood Keddies is representing more than 20 women who are planning to sue over their treatment.

After obtaining damages payments ranging from $10,000 to $750,000 for Glenbrook rail accident victims, Mr Barakat successfully ran similar class actions for victims of the Waterfall disaster.

However, the firm's comments about the Waterfall action on its website later earned a rebuke from the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner. Last month Mr Keddie pleaded guilty to two counts of professional misconduct in relation to wording on the firm's website and the Yellow Pages internet site. The Administrative Decisions Tribunal is yet to hand down its penalty.

In recent years the firm's largest customer base has been its injured Chinese clients, now numbering about 500, which led to the 2002 opening of an office in Ashfield, in the heart of a large Mandarin-speaking population. Keddies has also sponsored a number of Chinese cultural events and is a regular advertiser in the Chinese press.

Last year the Chinese press reported glowing comments made by Justice Reg Blanch, Chief Judge of the District Court, who presided over the opening of the firm's Liverpool office in May last year.

A Keddies brochure also reported that Justice Blanch was honoured to open the office and that he complimented Keddies for "not tying up the courts' time with trivial issues" and being "very focused on getting the best outcomes for its clients".

The judge's comments inflamed several angry Keddies clients whose settlements he had approved in Singapore in 2006 and Hong Kong last year. Most incensed was Gu Xi Liang who wrote to the judge berating him for his comments and bluntly setting out his grievances.

Justice Blanch wrote back to Mr Gu: "You are entitled to complain to the Legal Services Commissioner if you feel aggrieved by the conduct of your lawyers and I expect your complaint will be fully investigated."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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