Judgments this week in the High Court of Australia

On Wednesday, 14 August 2013 the High Court will deliver judgment in two cases.

The first is Legal Services Board v Gillespie-Jones, an appeal by the Victorian Legal Services Board against a decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal in which it held that where a solicitor misappropriates trust moneys paid to the solicitor by a client to cover the client’s costs of litigation (including fees charged by counsel), a barrister who had been retained by the solicitor to appear for the client was entitled to compensation out of the Fidelity Fund established under the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic) in respect of the barrister’s unpaid fees. 

The second is Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union v Mammoet Australia Pty Ltd in which the Court will consider the question of whether employer-provided accommodation and transport to workers in remote worksites constitutes a “payment” within the meaning of section 470 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (in which case, the employer was required to withhold the accommodation and transport while the workers were engaged in protected industrial action).