KEY POINTS:
Human rights lawyer Rob Moodie is seeking to have a claim against him by a fellow lawyer for $100,000 struck out.
Lawyer Tony Ellis represented Dr Moodie during a contempt of court case brought against him by the Solicitor-General for releasing a suppressed Army report into the 1994 bridge collapse on Margaret and Keith Berryman's farm, which killed beekeeper Kenneth Richards.
Mr Ellis says he was deceived by Dr Moodie and is seeking legal fees from him totalling about $100,000, based on a $500 hourly rate.
In the High Court at Wellington yesterday Dr Moodie sought to have the claim struck out. He told the court the initial arrangement, in April 2005, had been that the work would be done on a pro bono basis, because he was doing the Berryman's case on a pro bono basis. Mr Ellis would be paid for his time when the Berryman case was settled, he said.
The court was told after Mr Ellis became aware Dr Moodie had been awarded a large settlement for another case, Dr Moodie sent him a letter reiterating the previous agreement.
"It wouldn't matter if the defendant had $100,000 million in the bank, the terms of agreement are spelt out in the September 6 letter and I was certainly not in a position to be paying fees in April 2005 and certainly not engaging counsel at a rate of $500 per hour."
Mr Ellis' claim should be struck out because it was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process, he said.
"This is a case alleging deceit, misleading conduct and the like.
"In my submission they cannot succeed in light of the context of the letter."
Mr Ellis' lawyer Chris Tennet told the court Dr Moodie had deceived his client, by saying he was a poor lawyer who took mostly pro bono cases, despite receiving such a large settlement.
He said Mr Ellis was inveigled into doing the case and suffered loss by spending time on the case.
Dr Moodie's arguments did not warrant the case being struck out by the court, he said.
Dr Moodie is believed to have received at least $289,000 for working on the case of former Wanganui police superintendent Alec Waugh.
Associate Judge David Gendall reserved his decision.
- NZPA
