Today
- Opinion
- Review
How the US Supreme Court became a political organisation
When judges make decisions that should be left to politicians, they undermine democracy.
- Amanda Stoker
Yesterday
Thomson Geer takes 4.9pc stake in ASX takeover target
Law firm Thomson Geer has built a 4.9pc stake in ASX-listed Qantm Intellectual Property, currently the subject of a takeover tussle.
- Maxim Shanahan
Allen & Overy merger creates $5.3b firm in push for US clients
Local managing partner Jason Denisenko says the new-look firm will occupy the same space in the market, but will increasingly take on US firms with Australian arms.
- Maxim Shanahan
This Month
High Court rejects Crown immunity for sacred sites damage
The custodians of Kakadu National Park have won a test case in the High Court over a walking track at picturesque Gunlom Falls.
- Michael Pelly
Law Council ‘extremely concerned’ by ATO’s privilege allegations
In response to comments by Jeremy Hirschhorn to the Senate, the Law Council warned against casting doubt over the purpose of law firms’ consulting arms.
- Maxim Shanahan
Judge cited for ‘demeaning’ conduct in rape case
Victoria’s judicial watchdog has found that Judge Geoffrey Chettle ‘infringed the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers’.
- Michael Pelly
- Exclusive
- Harassment
One word reshaped legal watchdog’s public complaint guidance
The NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner changed its wording on disciplinary complaints from “must” to “may” investigate after being contacted by a female lawyer.
- Max Mason
Legal grad pay tops $110k, but wage gap still stubborn
The gender pay gap in the legal industry remains “stubbornly and consistently high”, a survey has found.
- Updated
- Maxim Shanahan
April
I lost $2.5m of my super to scammers
Five victims outline how their funds were taken by sophisticated impersonation fraudsters and why they feel abandoned by their banks.
- Duncan Hughes
Super Retail legal action expands to at least four staff
Lawyers acting for employees say they offered to settle confidentially for less than a third of the $30 million to $50 million sought.
- Carrie LaFrenz and Ayesha de Kretser
- Exclusive
- Harassment
Legal watchdog accused of quashing sexual assault claim
A lawyer who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a high-profile Sydney solicitor has accused the industry watchdog of blocking a full investigation.
- Max Mason
Tax Office warns law firms over consulting push
ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said he was worried law firms would repeat the mistakes of the big four professional services firms with their push into consulting.
- Maxim Shanahan
Energy focus as Ashurst, Allens, Freehills appoint new partners
Energy and environment lawyers have led promotions at top-tier firms, as the legal industry targets the energy transition as the next big source of billings.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Analysis
- Lehrmann trial
What Bruce Lehrmann could do next
Bruce Lehrmann has 28 days to appeal, but he needs to find the lawyers and the money first.
- Michael Pelly
- Exclusive
- Class action
Business slams class action lawfare firms
Business groups warn shareholders could be hit with billions of dollars in lawsuits backed by deep pocketed hedge fund investors under the Albanese government’s free-for-all class action setting.
- Ronald Mizen
Taxing judges’ pensions bad for independence, women
A former Federal Court chief justice says the reforms were likely unconstitutional and would stymie efforts to improve the number of women on the bench.
- Hannah Wootton
New legal AI tools target partners, dealmakers
Two new artificial intelligence tools have entered the increasingly crowded legal market, as in-house counsel push firms to pass on the cost savings being made though AI.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Exclusive
- Industrial relations
Top silk to head new NSW Industrial Court
Three Sydney barristers have been chosen as judges for the new court, with leading employment law silk Ingmar Taylor, SC, to be the president.
- Michael Pelly and David Marin-Guzman
- Analysis
- Analysis
Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer, Mark O’Brien, is on a losing streak
Losses in high-profile cases have experts wondering if Sydney’s client-friendly defamation culture is changing.
- Aaron Patrick
What judge in Lehrmann trial said about consent
The judgment sheds light on modern understandings of consent – or, as Justice Lee said, what “the ordinary person on the Belconnen omnibus” views as rape.
- Hannah Wootton
