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ARTICLE · 13 APRIL 2023

Looks dubious – the third ground to restrain a lawyer from acting

Piper Alderman
Piper Alderman
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A Court can restrain lawyers from acting in a particular case as an incident of inherent jurisdiction over its officers.

AustraliaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Valerie Blacker
Valerie Blacker
Amelia Atkinson
Amelia Atkinson
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Strata Voting Pty Ltd (In Liq) v Axios IT Pty Ltd and Anor1 is a funded single plaintiff action. It involved a recent examination of the Court's power to prevent a lawyer from acting in proceedings for a conflict of interest. The authors represented Strata Voting in its successful defence of the restraint application.

The Third Ground

Less frequently invoked than the first and second grounds (misuse of confidential information and breach of fiduciary duty), the third category upon which to restrain a lawyer in a position of conflict from acting in a matter is known as the "inherent jurisdiction" ground. The Court can restrain lawyers from acting in a particular case as an incident of its inherent jurisdiction over its officers and control of its processes.2

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