It’s not been a smooth transition. Loading On March 17, Sharma was caught up in an altercation at Smith & Singer’s Woollahra offices when he was unexpectedly asked to leave and allegedly thrown out onto Queen Street. Sharma, 70, suffered leg and chest injuries and was taken to hospital. Now NSW Police have concluded their investigation. “Officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command issued a 49-year-old man with a court attendance notice … for the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm,” we were told. A Downing Centre court appearance is scheduled for July, pandemic permitting. The mystery man, we’ve confirmed, is Smith & Singer’s Sydney manager David Mackay.

He could turn to his employers for much needed legal guidance. Smith, in 2012, sued his former art dealer partner Robert Gould for half of what he claimed was a $50 million fortune. He was not successful. Meanwhile, Singer was himself caught in a cheque mailing snafu while practising as a lawyer. The Legal Profession Tribunal in 2005 fined him $10,000 for writing out cheques for barristers… but failing to send them, leading the Victorian Bar to ask: “barristers don’t really exist, do they?” Presumably they've now been paid. LACKING IN LUSTRE Meanwhile, Smith & Singer have already been forced to delay its next jewellery auction — which included the $250,000 emerald and diamond ring owned by reclusive Sydney property investor Isaac Wakil — which was due to be held at the Woollahra Hotel next week. Several industry sources told CBD that the company had mandated a 50 per cent cut in salaries — and reduced hours — across its entire workforce earlier this week. “Not a good sign,” one competitor quipped.

We put this, and the assault allegations, to Smith & Singer’s media manager Thomas Austin. There was no response. Still, this was the same spinner who told the Herald in November that the company had not lost its license to use the Sotheby’s Australia brand. Less than a month later… BIRTHDAY BASH The coronavirus pandemic has shelved some of the biggest events in town and sent the country's rich into hiding — from Dial A Dump founder Ian Malouf on his yacht Mischief to Crown billionaire James Packer in Aspen. Not Anthony Pratt though. The Visy Industries chairman has been holed up in the family's Kew mansion Raheen. And that's where he was when he celebrated his 60th birthday on Saturday. He was surrounded by close family and wine from sister Heloise Pratt. The 1960 bottle of Penfold's Grange Hermitage goes for $5000 at Dan Murphy's, if it's ever in stock. But Pratt's original 60th birthday knees-up plans were much grander. He had invited 150 of his closest friends to Raheen on April 11 before the pandemic lock-down knocked that off the table in March. Guests notified "weeks ago" are no doubt hopeful the event will be rescheduled. ROUGH SEAS