Law firm apologises for 'letting down' parents of MH17 crash victim | MWhitbourn
An Australian couple who lost their only daughter on downed Malaysia Airlines flight 17 were "badly let down" by their lawyers and only found out they were not part of a class action settlement after a media report, an appeal court has said.prompted an apology on Thursday from the Sydney-based firm, LHD Lawyers, who promised a "full review" and said they had stood down the lawyer who ran the case pending the outcome.
The court said LHD Lawyers also failed to advise the couple they may have been able to bring a claim in the Netherlands. It was now too late to do so. LHD and Sydney barrister John Rowe could not abandon the couple's claim without conferring with them, the judges said. The family said that "in this process of seeking justice we have to focus on Malaysia Airline System Berhad and their negligence in the Flight of MH17 on 17 July 2014, for [which] ... Malaysia Airline still has to apologise".
Justice Lee said it was "a matter of profound regret" that until law firm Banton Group stepped in to act for the family pro bono they had been let down by their lawyers. He said that while it was not an excuse for failing to obtain instructions "the reality is" the couple did not have a claim. However, the court said the family's evidence had not been examined and they were entitled to their day in court.
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