Marketeering Victims’ Lament

[Author – Tim ODwyer]

Former interstate clients of litigation lawyers Carter Capner have shared these anonymous comments:

“This whole sorry marketeering experience has taught us a great deal about justice and integrity Queensland style.

First we were deceived by people usually recognised as acting in positions of trust – banks, financial planners and solicitors. All in bed with the crooks- so much for duty of care!

Then the Queensland Government had a go – retrospectively changing the laws because there was likely to be a huge rush of claims against the Fidelity Fund set up to protect people from real estate agents’ fraud. Of course the Government had been dipping into this fund for years to pay for a whole raft of worthy projects, so there simply wasn’t enough money left to pay the people who had been ripped off.

Problem solved – change the rules so they couldn’t claim!

What a triumph! Australia’s first piece of retroactive consumer legislation actually penalised consumers!

The last hope for victims was to take on the crooked solicitors – but no, the clanking wheels of justice turned too slowly. The solicitors couldn’t possibly remember how they’d ripped off their clients!!

But it gets worse. Now we find that the lawyers we hired to recover our losses took their eyes off the hundreds of balls they were juggling, and no longer want to act for us.

Invest in Queensland? You’ve gotta be joking!

Must’ve been a helluva sale on white shoes!”

To post your comment on this item, please return to