Piper Alderman: A Portrait with Contradictions

Piper Alderman - A Picture of Contradictions

A corporate photo of Piper Alderman’s Sydney team captures more than just polished smiles and smart suits. For those who know the history behind some of these faces, the image speaks volumes about the contradictions within the Australian legal profession.

Second from the right stands Andrea Beatty, a partner who joined Piper Alderman in 2018. As described in Ms Beatty's professional bio by Piper Alderman, she is a 'respected corporate lawyer specialising in financial services, enforcement defences, and regulator disputes'. Her profile furher highlights:

“Andrea is widely published and her authorships include the leading consumer law text Annotated National Credit Code (LexisNexis) and the ‘Australia’ chapter in the Consumer Finance Law Review (Law Business Research Ltd UK).”

Ms Beatty's guide on the National Credit Code (NCC) is a cornerstone reference for practitioners. It sets out clearly what financial corporations can and cannot do when offering credit to consumers. Among its key provisions are the following:

• A consumer credit contract must be in writing (s 14 NCC)

• It must contain all essential terms (s 17 NCC)

• It must be promptly provided to the debtor upon written request (s 185 NCC)

The purpose is simple: to ensure transparency, fairness, and protection from predatory or unlawful practices by financial corporations.

Yet, in the very same photo, we see two other figures whose conduct raises public interest concerns: Ms Natalie Miller (third from the left) and Ms Hannah Veldre (seated, far right).

Both were engaged in credit litigation matters where fictitious contracts were pleaded, conduct that undermines the very consumer protections Ms Beatty’s publications were intended to safeguard.

The Contradiction

The contradiction is stark. Ms Beatty’s firm, Piper Alderman, is alleged to have engaged in conduct that undermines the very credit laws she authors.

Piper Alderman has allegedly assisted Credit Corp Group / Credit Corp Services Pty Limited and its incorporated legal practice, along with lawyers such as Mr Carlos Toda of Certus Partners, to use the court system nationwide to record fictitious contracts, contracts not in their possession, in order to make claims in courts. These proceedings are alleged to have misled courts into believing there was a legal right under a contract that did not exist, thereby fabricating a basis for enforcement and breach claims under non-existent agreements.

Fun fact: In 2017, while Ms Beatty was employed as a solicitor at Key Point Law, she was notified and contacted regarding the conduct of Piper Alderman and Credit Corp in legal proceedings that breached credit laws, precisely the subject matter of the credit law commentary she authors. She was provided with confidential and privileged information at that time.

She was made aware that Credit Corp and Piper Alderman were relying on documents that could never qualify as compliant consumer credit contracts under the National Credit Code, generic terms and conditions with no product details or debtor particulars, the kind of pamphlets available to the public at a bank branch.

“Notably, in 2018 Ms Beatty became a partner at Piper Alderman, the very firm whose conduct had been brought to her attention the previous year while she was at Key Point Law.”

Natalie Miller

In the case of Odtojan ats Credit Corp Services Pty Limited, Ms Natalie Miller, then a Piper Alderman paralegal/Justice of the Peace (2014–2016), appeared at the bar table on seven separate occasions without leave of the court, assuming the role of a legal practitioner. Despite this history, among other conduct, Ms Miller was later admitted as a solicitor, omitting these material disclosures that were required at the time of her application for admission.

Impersonation of a lawyer is a serious offence under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Uniform Law).

The law is clear: Unqualified legal practice carries penalties of up to 2 years’ imprisonment or fines exceeding $27,000.

Hannah Veldre

Ms Hannah Veldre, together with partners Mr Florian Ammer and Ms Anne Freeman, and other Piper Alderman solicitors, was reported to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner (OLSC) in 2018 for her involvement in the Credit Corp case, where a fictitious credit contract was pleaded, raising issues of alleged complex fraud. Despite the statutory duty of regulatory officers under s 465 of the Uniform Law to refer suspected offences to the appropriate authorities, neither the OLSC nor the Law Society’s Professional Standards Department, which also received reports concerning Piper Alderman, took action.

Supervision and Court Misrepresentation

These acts did not occur in isolation. Both Ms Miller and Mr Owen Nanlohy (another Piper Alderman employee/law clerk) carried out these appearances as barrister and solicitor under the supervision of Piper Alderman partners Mr Florian Ammer and Ms Anne Freeman.

Piper Alderman partners are alleged to have condoned the impersonation of lawyers at court hearings, with Mr Hartford Davis, barrister, Doctor of Law from Oxford University, and former Piper Alderman solicitor, acting for Piper Alderman and Credit Corp in the proceedings.

In court, Mr Hartford Davis consistently referred to Ms Miller as his “instructing solicitor” and/or “solicitor,” thereby misleading the court into believing that Ms Miller, seated beside him at the bar table, was a qualified lawyer authorised to instruct counsel. Throughout the Odtojan ats Credit Corp proceedings, the solicitors on record, Partners Ms Anne Freeman and Mr Florian Ammer, did not appear at the bar table with counsel. Instead, it was Ms Miller who appeared alongside Mr Hartford Davis.

In later proceedings, Mr Nanlohy acted as a barrister while he was still a law clerk at the time. Like Ms Miller, Mr Nanlohy was later admitted as a solicitor, moved by Mr Hartford Davis, and would have been required to disclose these serious matters to the Admissions Board.

Mr Nanlohy currently practises as a barrister in Victoria. As with all practitioners, Mr Nanlohy and Ms Miller have an ongoing positive obligation to self-report to their regulatory bodies, the Law Society of NSW and the Bar Association.

All of this was reported to the Legal Services Commissioner of NSW and to the Law Society of NSW between 2018 and 2019. Both regulators failed to fulfil their statutory duties to investigate, instead choosing to close serious reports of alleged impersonation of lawyers by unqualified persons, disregarding evidence and potential indictable offences.

A Photo That Tells a Larger Story

This single corporate portrait is not just a snapshot of Piper Alderman’s Sydney office. It is a window into the deeper contradictions within the legal system: on one side, a leading author on consumer credit protections; on the other, lawyers alleged to be involved in the perversion of the administration of justice, impersonation, the recording of fictitious contracts in court proceedings, and misrepresentation before the courts, serious conduct ignored by those with a statutory duty to uphold the law and protect the public from harm caused by lawyer misconduct.

It is important to note that since making these reports to legal regulators in 2018–2019, further harm has occurred. More individuals and families have fallen victim to the very same conduct that was reported to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner (OLSC) and the Law Society of NSW, both of which failed to act.

Our reports stand as a historical record, no matter how much some may seek to bury or conceal the truth of these events, including the actions of Piper Alderman and all those reported, judicial officers included.

🔗 For further background, see related posts on Natalie Miller and Owen Nanlohy: Impersonating a police officer is a serious crime — and so is impersonating a lawyer.

Disclaimer: This notice is a public interest disclosure, public awareness, and education. Based on the lived experience of lawyers Marie Odtojan and Artem Bryl, witnesses, victims, and whistleblowers who acted lawfully. This post is subject to change where corrections, amendments, or additional information may be required. For queries, please contact: oblawyers.media@gmail.com