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Shine Justice – the law firm which breaks the law – bailed up by ASIC

by Michael West | Oct 8, 2023 | What's the scam?

Busted by ASIC for accounting shonkery and rebuked by the Court for duping its clients, what’s the scam with law firm Shine Justice (and its auditor PwC)?

The scam is, if the legal profession had a regulator of any substance, this ‘no win no fee’ law firm Shine Justice would no longer be a thing. Shine has broken the law by failing to comply with Australian Accounting Standards (AASB). PwC as auditor has signed off on the faulty financial statements.

The corporate regulator was more delicate in its language; a review finding: “Shine did not disclose either the interest expense on its disbursement funding facility or the interest it was intending to claim from personal injury clients and class action lawsuit members if a financial settlement was reached”.

The regulator has upbraided the firm for transparency, for failure to disclose. This mirrors the failures evinced in this years Federal Court decision by Justice Michael Lee who presided over the pelvic mesh class action matter and found Shine had favoured its own financial interests over the interests of its (11,000 women) clients. Lee condemned Shine for failing to be transparent with its clients over costs too, after the firm attempted to lump millions in legal costs into the victims settlement fund.

Accounting Standard AASB101 says a company should not offset income and expense items unless permitted. Shine has been offsetting interest income and interest expense and is therefore in breach of Accounting Standards. The Corporations Act requires companies to comply with Accounting Standards, therefore Shine is in breach of the laws. It has been understating its finance costs for years; a serial lawbreaker with a professional licence to sue other people for breaking the law.

 

Survival no sure thing: Shine Justice fails pelvic mesh victims, now shareholders

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Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.

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