Rum goings-on in Australia, where the identity of the next president of the Law Society of New South Wales has ended up being determined by the courts. According to The Australian newspaper, for reasons that are unclear the society's governing council changed its mind in November about Geoff Dunlevy taking the normal course from senior vice-president to president from 1 January, with incumbent June McPhie instead set to become the first president in the society's 122-year history to serve two terms.


Mr Dunlevy had apparently already quit his firm and moved his family to Sydney in anticipation of the job (which comes with a decent salary and an apartment next to the Opera House), and so resorted to litigation to secure his position. Last month, the state supreme court ruled that the society's articles of association mean that Mr Dunlevy could not be deposed in that way and would automatically take over, irrespective of the council vote.



There were also reports of walk-outs at the council and all sorts of other shenanigans, but Ms McPhie told the newspaper that she was more of a victim than Mr Dunlevy, adding that the apartment was not as luxurious as most assumed. It did not have a harbour view, she explained, and she was often woken up 'by all sorts of louts'.



For Australian solicitors looking for something to cheer them up, it may be of some little consolation to count among their number the chairman of the country's cricket selectors, former Test opener Andrew Hilditch, while away from taking cheap England wickets, bowler Stuart Clark is studying for a business masters and law degree.