A lot of people when they have been shafted by a lawyer feel helpless. Some make complaints to the relevent government bodies some do not. But even the ones who do make complaints rarely get resolution or even if they do the stress and hardship along the way has left them battle weary.
This post is about giving you another option that even if you do not get justice you should feel empowered and left with the satisfaction that you have least gotten payback. And the example we use is the below video of two corrupt lawyers from the law firm Freehills.
While the focus is on lawyers it is also applicable to other people who may have ripped you off like accountants, builders and all types of service and product suppliers.
Most of what I am about to write is nothing new nor complex but it good to see it in action so at least you know it can be done. Some people feel intimidated by lawyers, but if you have evidence of their criminal conduct they are the ones who should fear you.
Watch the below video then I will give a more detailed background to it. But briefly it is me interviewing two Freehills Lawyers in Australia outside the Sydney Law Courts building.
Brief background to the video
Most of my knowledge of the law has come over the last few years. I had an unlawful termination proceeding against Fairfax Media that lasted almost 3 years. It took almost 2 years to get to hearing which to my knowledge is an Australian record for the Federal Courts. This can only happen if you are up against corrupt lawyers and with them getting assistance from the judicial officers. Any honest lawyer will tell you that.
It was more than just an unlawful termination proceeding, it also involved criminal offences such as the fabrication of evidence by Fairfax Media. And that is where the above video comes in. It was taken on the 23 February 2009 after a directions hearing which was before Justice Moore. The two lawyers that I talk to are Shivchand Jhinku and Emily Wong who are both Freehills Lawyers.
Shivchand Jhinku helped fabricate an important document for the hearing. How do I know it was fabricated? Linda Price who was the Director of HR at Fairfax Media at the time emailed me the document. The problem being for them is that when she emailed it to me the mark-ups showed up in the document and I could see that a number of people were involved in writing the document and what they were saying between each other. This clearly showed they were deliberately lying about the content they put in the final document in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
If you do not know what markups are in a word document are, they just track and show who made what changes when there are a number of people writing the document and what comments they are saying between each other and when those changes were made.
Using video
The video was filmed using a Canon digital camera that also has a movie mode and sound for recording short videos and cost $150. If you have issues with a lawyer (or Accountant, financial Advisor etc) you should think about buying one as they are cheap and do a fair job. Another option is buying a mobile phone that has this function as many of the new mobiles do. Have a look on YouTube to see if there are any demo’s on there to give you an idea of the quality before you buy. I had a look at the new iPhone 4s on YouTube and the video and sound quality seems very good.
Once you have a camera then it is time to plan the interview. You need to find a good time. I planned the interview after a directions in court. I had to leave the camera at the reception of the court as they did not allow cameras into the court. This may have changed as a lot of mobile phones now have cameras and they are allowed in court so it is pointless now to stop cameras.
By the time I got the camera they had left the building and as you can see from the video I looked to the right where the Barrister Kate Eastman was but she went into the building across the road where her chambers are. (her chambers are her office)
So I decided to follow the lawyers and interview them. When you are doing this there are some key things that you should try to obey:
- Keep calm and ask clear and concise questions. I did stumble towards the end on one question as I was standing on the road and worried about cars, which was a mistake.
- Keep at least 2 to 3 meters away from the person you are interviewing so they can not claim you where intimidating them. (Although Mr Jhinku perjured himself in an affidavit and said he was intimidated and harassed or words to that effect).
- Make sure you can back up any claims you make. Or just ask questions. They can not sue for defamation if you just ask questions. And if you can back up any claims you make they can not sue you as well. E.g. I say in the video Mr Jhinku helped fabricate evidence which he did.
Promote your video on sites like YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion etc.
Starting a website for free
Doesn’t matter whether or not your problem is current or not you should start a website (blog) which you can do for free or spend a few dollars if you wish. Two of the better ones are WordPress.com or blogger.com.
I have never used blogger.com but from what I can gather it is very easy to use and probably the best place to start if you are new to computers. WordPress.com is easy as well and has tutorials online but takes a bit of time to get familiar with.
With the blog you can document what has happened and add your video. This may or may not help you but will possibly help others not to go through what you have or at least warn them of what can happen. If it does well your site and/or video could go viral and thousands or even millions of people might see it.
If you are not in a position to do a video you can use a photo and put it on your blog. For further ideas you should read a previous post I did when Kerry Stokes, Seven Group Chairman, threatened me with legal action that was unfounded which is titled “Kerry Stokes threatens legal action against blogger.” (Click here to read)
Supporting websites and people on twitter etc
Try to support sites like mine and people on twitter like @fixnswlegal etc. This helps a lot and costs you nothing except for a five minutes a week or month. For websites like mine make sure you subscribe to the free email subscription which is free and use Facebook and email etc to let others know about the site and stories.
It is important to subscribe as a lot of people will go to a site a few times then forget but if you subscribe you get an email reminder each time there is a new post which is about once a week with my site.
One of the motivators for doing this post was the comment by Susan on my last post where she said “The things that go on in our courts leave most of us with a deep sadness and a desperate feeling of despair and confusion.” This is not uncommon and it is time to fightback.
Once again I will finish off how I finish all my posts and ask for your support. I can write as much as I want but without a few minutes of your time helping promote the posts they will achieve very little. On the other hand if enough people spend a few minutes promoting this post using Twitter, Facebook and email etc they can achieve a lot.