Criminal lawyer Zali Burrows’ 12-year pursuit of her own lawyers over a $12,000 sum has pushed her to the brink of bankruptcy, which she is attempting to fend off with more legal action in the Federal Court.
Burrows, whose high-profile clients include former Auburn deputy mayor and convicted fraud Salim Mehajer, murderer and drug importer Bassam Hamzy and terrorist Hamdi Alqudsi, is appealing bankruptcy orders brought against her by Macpherson Kelley Lawyers on grounds including that the notice was not correctly served.
Criminal solicitor Zali Burrows is fighting bankruptcy proceedings brought by her former lawyers.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The origins of the dispute date back to a legal matter in 2011, since which time a judge of the NSW Court of Appeal has commented that the costs of pursuing the sum awarded in her favour have vastly exceeded the amount in issue. Macpherson Kelley, then known as M&K Sydney, advised Burrows in the 2011 proceedings, with the court making a costs order of $12,239.83 in her favour.
In November 2015, Burrows sued M&K Sydney and her former solicitor Melinda Di Condio in the NSW District Court, saying they had failed to enforce that costs order, with an additional claim of