Crikey reporter Sophie Vorrath writes:

On one side is a broke, unemployed bookkeeper whose bank account has been frozen. On the other side is the Steve Vizard machine of big-end-of-town law firms, top-class silks and canny spinmeisters. It’s David v Goliath – or Roy v Steve.

In a script right out of The Castle, Roy Hilliard’s legal defence is co-ordinated by his solicitor Magda Kron, who runs a general practice law firm in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick with just one other partner. Kron and her colleagues have spent up to five years fighting claims that Hilliard stole $3 million from Vizard’s Westpac bank account, since Hilliard first sought her counsel in December 2000.

Supporting her in court are two barristers – Peter Hayes QC and Danny Masel, a junior – who, like Kron, are hardly household names.

Lined up against them for Vizard and Westpac is a team that ripples with top-tier credentials, including arguably Australia’s best barrister Robert Richter QC and two other QCs, two of Australia’s biggest and best law firms (Arnold Bloch Leibler and Minter Ellison), and PR spinners Mike Smith and David Wilson from Inside PR.

And in more shades of The Castle, Magda Kron says Hilliard’s legal camp won’t let financial constraints stop them from seeing the case through to the end. “We were genuinely aggrieved by the role of the police in their failure to conduct an impartial investigation, by Westpac’s conduct and by the answers given by Vizard and Lay” in Hilliard’s 2003 committal hearing, she says. And every time she re-reads the hearing transcript it reignites “the vigour to continue.”

The same goes for Hilliard’s barristers who, says Kron, made a commitment to see the case through “knowing that the money would run out before the end.”

Here is a comparison of the two legal camps:

TEAM VIZARD

Robert Richter QC: leading Melbourne criminal law barrister, whose high profile clients have included John Elliott, former HIH director Ray Williams and, most recently, Mick Gatto. Fee: estimated at up to $8000 a day.
James Judd QC: leading Melbourne corporate law barrister. Fee: estimated at up to $8000 a day.
Charles Scerri QC: counsel for Westpac.
Philip Crutchfield: junior barrister from Melbourne Bar who also acted for Westpac.
Leon Zwier: Vizard’s solicitor, from Arnold Bloch Leibler, a 50-year-old 40-partner law firm with offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
An associate from ABL and a public employee solicitor employed by the firm.
Ross Freeman: solicitor specialising in commercial law and ASIC investigations, from Minter Ellison, a 1100-person law firm described on its website as “one of the largest full-service law firms in the Asia Pacific region and the 13th largest in the world.”
Mike Smith: Vizard’s PR advisor from Inside PR.

TEAM HILLIARD

Magda Kron: Solicitor, Rudstein Kron Lawyers, 10-year-old general practice law firm in Melbourne suburb Elsternwick with 2 partners, Zelma Rudstein and Magda Kron, one associate, Kate Murphy, and two secretaries.
Danny Masel: Junior barrister from Melbourne Bar.
Peter Hayes QC: Barrister in commercial law.