Advertisement
Victoriaâs legal watchdog is threatening to cancel the practising certificate of the lawyer behind a class action launched on behalf of 3000 public housing tower residents who were compulsorily shut inside their homes at the height of the coronavirus pandemicâs second wave.
Emails seen by
The Age confirm the Victorian Legal Services Board wrote to solicitor Serene Teffaha in March to provide her with a ânotice of proposed cancellation of practising certificateâ.
Solicitor Serene Teffaha of Advocate Me says she intends to contest the action from the Victorian Legal Services Board.
The notice was sent to Ms Teffaha, a high-profile anti-lockdown activist, at the same time that she filed the class action on behalf of thousands of public housing tenants subjected to the hard lockdown by the state government and confined to their homes in July 2020.
Coronavirus Victoria: Legal watchdog moves to cancel tower lockdown lawyer s licence theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Time for leaders to call out sexual harassment and listen to victims
We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
Normal text size
Advertisement
When a High Court-commissioned investigation confirmed last year that former justice Dyson Heydon, one of the country’s most prominent jurists, had sexually harassed six female staff members, it sent shockwaves through the legal profession and the wider community.
It seemed an irony that a man entrusted with the solemn task of upholding the law could so abuse his position, and could do so for a decade with apparent impunity.
But Mr Heydon’s power was integral to his behaviour. In his most detailed remarks since the scandal broke, former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne, QC – whose 18 years on the bench encompassed Mr Heydon’s stint from 2003 to 2013 – says sexual harassment must be “called out for what it is: an abuse of power”.
Time for leaders to call out sexual harassment and listen to victims smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Australian Bar Association has joined the Law Council in supporting reports that the government has sought independent advice on the Federal Judicial Commission.