Former Barrister Pleads Guilty to Attempted Fraud in Class Action

Norman O'Bryan, a former Melbourne barrister, has pleaded guilty to a single charge of attempting to defraud claimants in the Banksia Securities class action. The guilty plea was entered on April 16, 2026, and relates to events between November 2017 and February 2018.

The Charge and Allegations

O'Bryan pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to dishonestly obtain payment of legal fees to which he was not entitled.

The prosecution, presented by Michael Stanton SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions, alleged O'Bryan drafted invoices for fees in the class action, known as the Bolitho proceeding.

The court heard that on dates O'Bryan claimed to have worked on the case, he was either engaged in other professional matters, including court appearances, or was not present in Australia.

Background of the Class Action

The class action involved claimants suing investment manager Banksia Securities following its collapse, which resulted in approximately $100 million in lost investments. The case settled for $64 million in 2017.

O'Bryan served as the barrister for the claimants and was also a funder of the legal action. Following the settlement, questions were raised by claimants about the legal fees charged.

A subsequent investigation, requested by the court, found that O'Bryan and others involved had added unwarranted fees to the claimants' legal bills.

The exact amount overcharged was not fully determined for the criminal proceedings but is estimated to exceed $1 million.

Victim Impact Statement

Keith Pitman, a member of the committee representing the class-action claimants, submitted a victim impact statement to the court.

In his statement, Pitman said the matter had affected his mental health and described the experience as "seven years of hell." He stated it had "put a dark shadow on our latter years of retirement" and felt like "a slow motion robbery."

Many claimants in the class action were retirees who had lost retirement funds in the Banksia Securities collapse.

Related Legal and Personal Context

• Another lawyer involved in the alleged fraud, Mark Elliott, died in 2020 in an accident on his farm.
• Norman O'Bryan was declared bankrupt in 2020.
• He was struck off from legal practice in 2020.
• He returned his Order of Australia in 2020, which had been awarded for services to charities.

O'Bryan comes from a legal family; his father and grandfather were Supreme Court judges, and his brother is a Federal Court judge. He was educated at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

O'Bryan previously served on the Takeovers Panel and on the board of Carey Baptist Grammar School for ten years. He also previously worked on white-collar crime cases for the corporate watchdog.