Former South Australian senator and lawyer Nick Xenophon has sued his former law firm for still using the letter ‘X’ in its name, arguing it is a clear reference to him.
According to the ABC, Xenophon filed a statement of claim with the Federal Court in March against XD Law and Advocacy Pty Ltd, formerly known as “Xenophon Davis Pty Ltd”.
He left the firm last year and is now seeking for the business name to be changed by removing the letter X, and that they pay his costs for the legal proceedings.
The law firm has represented some high-profile whistle-blower clients in the past, such as David McBride, Troy Stolz and Sharon Kelsey.
In the claim, Xenophon said he “is and has been referred to as Mr X in numerous media articles, reports and broadcasts related to his legal and/or political careers”.
The Greek and Cypriot Australian as a member of South Australia’s legislative council from 1997 to 2007 under the No Pokies banner and then was a senator from 2008 to 2017.
He returned to politics in 2022 but was unsuccessful in a bid to run for SA parliament.
The legal document alleged that the firm’s existing partners Mark Davis and Natalija Nikolic breached a deed that was written up when Xenophon left.
“Engaging in conduct that is misleading and deceptive,” according to the claim, and that the deed required the two to “cease using the applicant’s name and any identifying marks, symbols or images which associated their firm with [Xenophon]”.
“The letters ‘XD’ in the business name … [are] a conjoined and truncated version of ‘Xenophon Davis’ using each of the first and capitalised letters of those surnames.”
The former senator argued that this implies the firm is still affiliated with him.
Davis hit back at the claims, rejecting “Xenophon’s apparent belief that he owns a letter of the alphabet”.
“We wished him well and since he left we have made no attempts whatsoever to associate him with the firm,” Davis said.
“Indeed, we have not made a single reference on any platform for more than 12 months.
“We dealt with his departure from the firm amicably but we now have a business to run.
“We will not be bullied by this. If he’s feeling particularly possessive about the letter X, it may be more productive speaking to Elon Musk.”
Xenophon did not comment further on the claim.
He was recently diagnosed with a benign brain tumour, and went public, revealing he is set for major surgery later this year.
