Macpherson + Kelley Lawyers has hit another snag in its Great Southern Managed Investment Scheme class action, but the firm remains confident the case will go ahead.

Yesterday the Supreme Court of Victoria halted proceedings in the lodgement of the Amended Statement of Claim (ASOC), so that some of the points being discussed could be considered further by the parties before returning to court in February to determine whether the ASOC can be filed.
M+K principal Ron Willemsen said the firm, on behalf of investors, sought formal permission to file an expanded ASOC that contains significantly more detail than the claim put forward in October, which was struck out by the court. “It is only a very small portion of the current claim that needs refinement,” said Willemsen.

The firm submitted to the court a claim hinged on the relationship between Great Southern Managers Australia and the Great Southern Investment Scheme, and the finance offered exclusively to those same investors by Great Southern Finance, through Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. “We are claiming that they were two companies operating as one,” said Willemsen. “The interlinkages have always been there. It's just been a matter of uncovering more evidence of them, such as the companies' having both used the same finance manager,” he said.

M+K launched a class action on behalf of 1,700 investors in Great Southern's Managed Investment Scheme in May, and is claiming that the loans provided by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are void or unenforceable. In a statement released yesterday, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank managing director Mike Hirst pointed to the fact that it was the second occasion on which the statement of claim had been refused by the court. He claimed he was concerned for borrowers who, as a result of the court’s decision, would be forced to fund a third attempt by the law firm.

During the past 12 months M+K have appointed seven new solicitors in the commercial litigation department as a result of the work related to the Great Southern and Timbercorp class actions. A recent survey of law firms found that M+K had increased its non-partner fee earner headcount across the firm by 95% in the past 12 months, up from 56 in December 2009 to 109 this December. Willemsen said he was comfortable with the level of resources involved in the Great Southern class action, and said the firm would be looking to add more staff to the commercial litigation team in the new year.

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