Jump to full article: The Age (au), 2007-08-19
Intro: VICTORIA'S top prosecutor has pressed the Australian Crime Commission to investigate potential criminal conduct by cigarette maker British American Tobacco and lawyers at prestigious legal firm Clayton Utz during the Rolah McCabe case.
In one of his last acts as the state's Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coghlan, QC, has referred serious allegations of criminal behaviour by the tobacco giant and its former Australian lawyers, Clayton Utz, to the nation's top crime-fighting body for a special investigation.
In a letter to Attorney-General Rob Hulls, Mr Coghlan refers to serious allegations including perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by "a number of parties involved with British American Tobacco".
The DPP's unprecedented move follows revelations in The Sunday Age last October of an internal investigation conducted by Clayton Utz after its client, BAT, lost a damages action brought by lung cancer victim Rolah McCabe in 2002.
The investigation, by a senior partner of the firm, Christopher Dale, found that two Clayton Utz lawyers in the case, Glenn Eggleton and Richard Travers, had engaged in serious professional misconduct.
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