Vic: Former tobacco law firm back doing state govt work

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2004
Vic: Former tobacco law firm back doing state govt work

By Ben Packham

MELBOURNE, Aug 5 AAP - The Victorian government has hired former British American Tobacco
(BAT) law firm Clayton Utz to fight the state's paramedics' union.

The firm was quietly relisted as one of the government's preferred legal service providers
several months ago, after it was dumped following the Rolah McCabe tobacco case in 2002.

The Department of Human Services has since appointed the firm to represent the Metropolitan
Ambulance Service (MAS) and Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) in their industrial dispute
with the ambulance employees' union.

In March 2002, the Supreme Court found Clayton Utz was complicit with BAT in a scheme
to destroy documents that might be relevant to future prosecutions.

The Court of Appeal overturned the judgment in December that year, finding the destruction
of documents was not unlawful and there was no evidence the law firm devised the strategy.

Clayton Utz remained off the government's Legal Services Panel until about April this
year, when it was re-listed without fanfare.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Rob Hulls said a tender evaluation committee had
taken into account the Court of Appeal's decision when deciding to re-list the firm.

It also accepted that investigations of the firm by the NSW Legal Services Commission
and the Victorian Legal Ombudsman had been closed or withdrawn with no action.

However, if probity questions arose in the future, the state had the power to suspend
or terminate the firm's membership on the panel, she said.

Rolah McCabe, who has since died of cancer, sued BAT claiming its products caused her
illness and the company had sought to evade its liability.

Clayton Utz's senior Melbourne partner Bradley Vann said the firm had been "completely
exonerated" over matters arising from the initial McCabe decision.

Mr Vann said the firm had had a long relationship with the state government, but declined
to say if the ambulance matters were its first government contracts since being relisted.

Clayton Utz announced the closure of its tobacco litigation practice in July 2002,
saying it was no longer compatible with the firm's long-term business interests.

A spokesman for Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said the Department of Human Services
had retained the firm, and was paying half its fees, with the remainder met by the ambulance
services.

Clayton Utz has represented the MAS and RAV against the paramedics' union during recent
hearings in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

It was also involved in a Federal Court application against the union, which has now
been shelved while conciliation talks are underway between the parties.

AAP bp/tma/jlw

KEYWORD: CLAYTON UTZ

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