Today
Top legal partners want to ‘eat what they kill’, not share profits
High-performing partners want a greater share of profit for shouldering the burden of a flat legal market.
- Maxim Shanahan
Barristers on losing streak with constitutional change
A vote by members of the Victorian Bar to include clauses that promoted diversity and made a stand against discrimination and harassment has tanked.
- Michael Pelly
How Aussie Jewish barristers banded together after Hamas attacks
Working long hours, usually alone, it can be a lonely life. In the days after the bloody attack on Israel, a WhatsApp group helped Jews at the NSW Bar come together.
- Ronald Mizen and Maxim Shanahan
This Month
Vegas trips, five times the salary: Life as an NYC lawyer to the stars
Sydneysider Nick Saady moved to New York five years ago to study a Master of Laws at New York University. He did whatever it took to stay.
- Updated
- Ciara Seccombe
Retiring judge lashes long-running live export case
Cattle farmers have been suing the federal government over a live export ban since 2014 and Justice Steven Rares has described one of the claims in the case “absurd”.
- Ronald Mizen
- Analysis
- Voice to parliament
Why referendums fail in ‘world champion’ Australia
Compulsory voting, corporate support and celebrity backing all work against getting referendums over the line.
- Michael Pelly
- Analysis
- Analysis
Why the EV decision is a bad sign for High Court
There were five different judgments from the seven justices, suggesting retiring Chief Justice Susan Kiefel’s push for them to work more closely may be in vain.
- Michael Pelly
That’s a rap: raucous send-off for new High Court judge
Robert Beech-Jones once left fellow judges “awestruck” with a Christmas Party rap, and he admits not being the best writer in the family.
- Michael Pelly
- Exclusive
- Class action
‘Aggressive’ litigation funder Omni Bridgeway accused in UK fee fight
A lawsuit against the Perth-based firm is the first major challenge after a UK Supreme Court judgment effectively nullified most litigation funding agreements.
- Ronald Mizen
Hire us, not consultants, barristers tell government
The Victorian Bar says using “individual experts” would be cheaper and help overcome issues of accountability and breach of trust.
- Maxim Shanahan
US law firm reviews decision to rescind job offers over Israel protest
Davis Polk reconsiders dismissals after two students deny authorising letters from Harvard and Columbia groups blaming Israel for October 7 Hamas attack.
- Maureen Farrell
- Opinion
- Voice to parliament
How a few lawyers turned Yes into No
Lawyers who tried to sell a maximalist Voice model as a modest one fell into abstraction, sophistry and legal fiction to do so.
- Louise Clegg
Detail in referendums ‘unwise’: law expert
Parliament should handle details after a referendum – and down the track if further changes are required – constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says.
- Michael Pelly
Government settles climate risk to bonds case, makes a key concession
To settle a case, Treasury recognised risks to the value of sovereign bonds from global warming, which a judge warned could be “a huge drain on Commonwealth resources”.
- Hannah Wootton
Women lawyers face barriers from client demands
‘Primitive notions’ of what a ‘good’ lawyer looks like are holding back the career prospects of women in the legal industry.
- Maxim Shanahan
Lawyers, barristers put on notice over sexual harassment
Non-compliance could result in lawyers losing their practicing certificates or the disbarment of barristers, the profession’s watchdogs have warned.
- Hannah Wootton
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- Maxim Shanahan
Fred Schebesta’s Finder claims its crypto product wasn’t money
Its lawyers laid out why the comparison website wasn’t beholden to existing regulations when it issued its now-defunct crypto product.
- Jessica Sier
US funds poised to swoop on troubled ASX companies
White & Case restructuring partner Timothy Sackar said he expected Australia’s sharemarket to become a hunting ground for cashed-up private funds.
- Emma Rapaport
Court ruling nears on Optus cyberattack report
A Federal Court justice is expected to rule shortly on whether Optus can stop a report by Deloitte on its 2022 cyberattack from being released.
- Jenny Wiggins
