McKenzie Friends Asset Protection Latest Developments

Activities in the area of self litigants and family law have made us aware of the need for programmes for asset protection for our clients. Here are some examples of situations that have come to our notice.

Case A

As part of their property settlement, a woman and her ex-husband sold their marital home with the intention of buying another property. The conveyancing solicitor put the proceeds of the sale into another company that purchased two other properties in it's own name without the woman's knowledge or consent. Shortly after this her ex transferred all of his interests in the proceeds to the woman except for $20,000.00. The woman took the matter to the NSW Court as a self-represented litigant to get the marital assets returned to her.

The Judge dismissed her case against the solicitor but not the company. That case is still ongoing. The court placed an injunction on the properties preventing them from being sold or otherwise disposed of until the other parties could show their ownership and accounting of how they paid for the properties. This was done in 1999. To date the other parties have not provided the court with any of the documents or information required in the judgement. The properties are now worth $1.4 million.

Your Right to Privacy and the Spying Colour Laser Printer 

Want to send an "anonymous" package of documents exposing government corruption, or corporate mal feasance to a watchdog agency, journalist, or Amnesty International? Printed a page on your colour printer?

Don't send it. It can be easily traced right back to you, courtesy of "tracking dots" the printer embeds in each copy it produces.

The dots, which are practically invisible, contain information about the make and model ofy your printer and its serial number. In some cases it can even include the date and time the page was printed. they?e apparently the outcome of a secret deal between the U.S. Secret Service and printer manufacturers, presumably to help identify U.S. currency counterfeiters.

This information is naturally available to any government agency or anyone else who knows how to read the tracking dots.

This kind of surveillance is a direct attack on free and anonymous speech, whistleblowing, and privacy.

The only way to protect you anonymity if you use a colour laser printer is to pay cash for your purchase, never register it with the manufacturer, and never return it for warranty service. That's a pretty stiff price to pay for preserving your right to anonymous speech, but privacy these days is rarely convenient. 

Judge loses $64 million lawsuit over trousers

Sydney Morning Herald June 26, 2007 - 7:03AM

A judge in the US capital lost his $US54 million ($A64 million) lawsuit today against a dry cleaner over a pair of misplaced trousers in a case that became a symbol of the lawsuit-happy US legal system.

Roy L Pearson, an administrative law judge in Washington, claimed a "satisfaction guaranteed" sign in Custom Cleaners misled consumers who, like him, were dissatisfied with their experience.

The judge hearing the case ruled Pearson did not interpret that sign in a reasonable fashion.

"A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands," DC Judge Judith Bartnoff wrote.

Pearson must pay several thousand dollars in filing fees and other court costs incurred by the defendants, Bartnoff ruled.

Shopper strip-searched by police

 Geesche Jacobsen | June 26, 2007 Brisbane Times
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/06/25/1182623848534.html

Humiliated & Julia Photi leaving court yesterday, where she is suing the retailer Target for defamation.

"I work here and I saw you steal some razors," the man allegedly said.

"Where are my razors? The cops will be here soon. Give me back the razors you've stolen," he allegedly said in a loud voice.

Other customers stopped, watched and pointed at her, Ms Photi told the District Court yesterday.