Keddie creditors shedding trustees

Casa Barakat, Roseville Chase
Photo: SiN Images

CREDITORS of the former partners of legal firm Keddies want to slash the number of bankruptcy trustees in a bid to reduce fees - and who can blame a former Keddies client for being a little testy on that topic?

The first step towards paring the four trustees back to one will be taken on December 19 when former partner Tony Barakat submits a proposal for a composition.

The composition - under section 73 of the Bankruptcy Act - comprises an offer by Barakat of $2 million.

Donnelly halves Slater & Gordon's Keddies claim

FERRIER Hodgson’s Max Donnelly has admitted barely half of a near $1 million proof of debt filed by law firm Slater & Gordon (S&G) against the bankrupt estate of struck-off solicitor Russell Keddie.

Donnelly, who was appointed trustee in bankruptcy to Keddie’s estate on June 15, is aiming to pay an interim dividend before Christmas. 

But the claims Donnelly is prepared to accept for interim distribution purposes and the amount the high profile lawyers are claiming is far from aligned. 

“As each day goes on, they (S&G) get a new claim and they are claiming under the indemnity, Donnelly explained.

“They said: ‘we know we might get sued on 20 cases but it might be a million’.

“I’ve said: ‘I’m only going to admit you for what you’ve actually paid out. I don’t care what you might get claimed’.

Keddie queries Donnelly's determinations

 Bankruptcy veteran Max Donnelly
Photo: Ferrier Hodgson 

STRUCK-off solicitor Russell Keddie applied for a review of $1.26 million in creditor interest claims just days before his bankruptcy trustee sought authorisation to pay a pre-Christmas dividend.

In a letter to Max Donnelly, Keddie advises his trustee that he’s filed an application in the Federal Magistrates Court to preserve the 21-day time limit a bankrupt has to challenge trustee determinations of proofs of debt.

The letter – dated November 30 - is signed by Keddie’s lawyer Sally Nash. Accompanying it is a copy of the application and a supporting affidavit dated November 27.

Max acts for tax man in battle over settlement funds

A $1.95 million settlement between the former occupants
of this Manly property is in Max Donnelly's sights.
Photo: SiN Images  

FOR what is probably not the first time in his career, Max Donnelly has been ordered to produce his particulars.

Particulars about what bankrupt tax lawyer David Neill Bonnell knew.

Particulars about when Bonnell knew what he's alleged to have known.

And particulars about how Donnelly knows that when Bonnell transferred $5 million from his non-compliant super fund to Windoval, a company he controlled, it was done intentionally to foil the taxman.

The Windoval payment was made on July 1, 1999. Accrued interest might turn out to be quite a sum.

The voluminous saga of Mr Donnelly's fees

The view from Surf Circle Road, Tura Beach.

FERRIER Hodgson’s veteran bankruptcy trustee Max Donnelly today instructed his solicitors to execute a writ of possession over the Tura Beach residence of Eugene and Inge Maxwell-Smith, a move that will potentially bring an end to a marathon seven-year battle over unpaid fees.

Max was appointed trustee in bankruptcy to the Maxwell-Smith estate in 2003 after the Jindabyne couple spent years refusing to pay a builder for what they believed were sub-standard renovations to their beachfront retirement bolt hole on Tura Beach's prestigious Surf Circle road.