Indian-origin surgeon Jayant Patel, convicted for the death of an elderly patient in Australia, has sued his legal team for over 884,000 dollars for "inexperience" in handling criminal trials.
The 63-year-old, who returned to the US following a long legal battle in Australia, was convicted of fraud last year and sentenced to two years in prison.
Patel, a US citizen, wants Raniga Lawyers and barrister Michael Woodford to pay him 884,000 Australian dollars in damages, which he claimed he paid to them to conduct his defence, Couriermail reported yesterday.
They defended him in his 2010 trial for three counts of unlawfully killing patients and causing grievous bodily harm to another. He was convicted and given a seven-year jail term.
Two appeals were dismissed, but in 2012 the High Court quashed the convictions.
The Supreme Court claim alleges that in 2008, Patel retained Raniga Lawyers, through its principal Arun Raniga, to defend him on criminal charges for which he was extradited from the US.
Patel alleged Raniga Lawyers failed to tell him it was "inexperienced" in conducting criminal trials. He alleged the firm, which should have supervised his defence, delegated all planning and presentation for his 2010 trial to Woodford.
Patel said Woodford was a junior, inexperienced counsel who did not have the skills of a reasonably competent solicitor. Raniga Lawyers should have properly briefed competent counsel "skilled in the practice of...Criminal law" in Queensland, as the charges were serious and Patel faced jail if found guilty, the claim states.
Raniga and Woodford declined to comment.
Patel worked at Bundaberg Hospital, where he was employed as a director of surgery between April 2003 and April 2005.
