The Age today has the following.

Celebrity cavoodle defamation case triggers dramatic legal falling out

It all started with a cavoodle named Oscar.

Oscar is a very special boy, a “celebrity dog” worth an estimated $20,000 with his own Instagram account, and an unfortunate knack of kicking off protracted legal disputes involving his paw owners.

In 2021, a custody battle over Oscar between Sydney barrister Gina Edwards and her former friend Mark Gillespie led to a series of stories on Nine’s A Current Affair. Last year, Edwards successfully sued Nine, owner of this masthead, for defamation, with Federal Court judge Michael Wigney ruling that the stories had depicted her as a “dog thief”.

Nine was ordered to pay Edwards $150,000 in damages, plus her legal costs, around $1.2 million all up. But the costs issue has become the source of a spectacular falling out between Edwards and her lawyers Giles George, run by top defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles.

A Federal Court hearing on Thursday, which should’ve been an administrative post mortem to resolve costs issues arising from Edwards’ case against Nine, became the scene of a whole new legal dogfight, as the plaintiff, representing herself, took on her former lawyers.

Edwards has complained to the Law Society of NSW, alleging that Giles George didn’t follow legal professional rules in relation to their costs agreement.  An additional complaint to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner about Giles George was closed on receipt. Meanwhile, Edwards told the court on Thursday that the firm, known for its PR-forward approach to client representation, had billed her for briefing journalists about the case.

Giles George, meanwhile, is seeking to intervene in the all-but-concluded defamation case, arguing that Edwards’ costs should be paid by Nine to the court directly, rather than their former client. Giles declined to comment, although it’s understood she denies Edwards’ allegations.

The costs spat between Giles George and Edwards is set to continue in March.

Spare a thought for poor Oscar, who probably has no idea the amount of drama he’s caused.

All lawyers should be ashamed.  A petty tiff over a petty insult, if litigated at all, should be determined in a morning by a magistrate with no prior hearings, pleadings, or witness statements.  Damages could in fact capped at say, $20,000, and costs at, say, $5000.  That would still make any such action at best problematic, but damages at about twice the level of average earnings for such a trifle are absurd, and costs of $1,000,000 are obscene.

All we lawyers should therefore be ashamed.  The word ‘squalor’ is inadequate.  Jack Cade may have had the answer.