Sue Chrysanthou, SC, an in-demand defamation barrister in Sydney, has been given a formal reprimand for unsatisfactory professional conduct by the NSW Bar Council.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Chrysanthou was reprimanded for her decision to act for former attorney-general Christian Porter in his aborted defamation suit against the ABC over historical sexual assault allegations, which he denies.
Adelaide Writers’ Week director Jo Dyer, a friend of the deceased woman who accused Porter of rape while they were teenagers and a potential witness in the case, sought a court order restraining Chrysanthou from acting for him on the basis that the barrister had already advised her.
Chrysanthou was restrained by Federal Court justice Tom Thawley from acting for Porter, a decision upheld on appeal last year well after the original defamation case was dropped.
Dyer made a separate complaint to the NSW Bar Council against Chrysanthou’s acting for Porter, with the barrister’s reprimand decided at a meeting in June.
Chrysanthou has a period of 28 days in which to seek an appeal against, or review of, the Bar Council’s decision.
