Documents Relating To The Engagement Of Counsel In Reynolds V Commonwealth (wad121/2025) And Brown V Commonwealth (nsd327/2025).

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 16 May 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

The Attorney-General's Department released a ministerial submission (MS25-000378, dated 28 May 2025) seeking approval for Comcover to engage senior counsel Justin Gleeson SC at a daily rate exceeding $5,000 in the matter of Reynolds v Commonwealth (WAD121/2025). Under the Legal Services Directions 2017, Attorney-General approval is required for counsel fees above this threshold. The submission outlines that approval must consider factors including counsel expertise, matter importance, and probable total cost. The document indicates the decision concerns an exercise of the Attorney-General's power under Appendix D of the Directions. Comcover bears the financial costs. Substantial portions were redacted under legal professional privilege (sections 42(1), 45(1), 47C(1), 47F(1), 47G(1)(a)-(b)), obscuring the specific daily rate approved and detailed departmental analysis of the engagement rationale.