UPDATED: The long-running legal battle between Y&R and former The Campaign Palace executive creative director Paul Fishlock is set to drag on with the WPP outfit filing a Notice of Intention to Appeal against the verdict.
Y&R has bought itself two more months to 'settle' the matter despite a Supreme Court verdict handed down last month in favour of Fishlock. It can file an actual appeal within that timeframe. The agency group said it has attempted to settle the matter with Fishlock's lawyers but had yet to hear back. Fishlock said he has had no communications from Y&R since the verdict other than the Notice of Intention to Appeal.
Y&R Brands Australia chief operating officer Jason Buckley said: "We lodged a holding notice in order to have time to resolve the matter. We are hoping to resolve it soon but naturally need to hear back from Fishlock's lawyers. I hope that can happen over the coming weeks so we can all move on."
It's not immediately clear what "matters" are unresolved. Y&R filed its notice to the Supreme Court on 6 June, the last day of a 28 day appeal notice window.
Last month, Y&R flagged its option to appeal the court rulings when Justice Sackar ruled in favour of Fishlock and awarded him $268,259 in damages.
The protracted legal battle between Fishlock and Y&R originated in the appointment of Reed Collins in January 2011 as national chief creative officer of the now-defunct The Campaign Palace while Fishlock was national executive creative director.
Fishlock found out about the appointment via a report in the trade press. Fishlock's lawsuit, centred around a breach of contract, initially sought almost half a million dollars in damages.
Fishlock said: “Obviously I'm disappointed as I really wanted to put this whole thing behind me and focus on the new agency [Behaviour Change Partners]. But so much of this two-and-a-half year ordeal has been surreal that filing an Intention to Appeal on the back of last month's comprehensive 96-page Supreme Court judgement is pretty much par for the course.”
Witnesses which appeared during the trial included former Y&R-ers Mark Mackay, Nigel Marsh and Brent Liebenberg.
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