Legal Affairs

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Minter Ellison’s brief on beef

Law firm Minter Ellison had a starring role in an episode of the ABC’s 7:30 this week, when it was revealed it was acting for a group of farmers affected by the federal government’s live cattle export ban last year.

Shareholder class actions need to be put to trial

With last week’s reported $200 million settlement of the long running Centro case, another opportunity for the courts to decide on the methodology for assessing damages in shareholder class actions has slipped away.

Judges echo values of government

Former high court judge Michael Kirby has defended judicial activism saying people are “naive” if they think court decisions are “totally legal”, and backed governments stacking courts with judges who agree with their values.

Views differ on same-sex marriage reform

A review of same-sex marriage by legal groups has balanced the need to remove discrimination from the law with the possibility of obstacles in the constitution.

Net judgments like ‘cold porridge’

Former Federal Court Chief Justice Michael Black has urged judges to write summaries of their judgments in a journalistic style, describing many judgments now on offer on the internet as “cold porridge”.

Technology helps reform evidence laws

Evidence laws could be modernised to better address new technology and forms of communication under a review by the South Australian Law Reform Institute.

Law firms busy on their own acquisitions

Merger and acquisition work has been inconsistent this year due to sluggish transaction markets, but that has not stopped law firms hiring corporate partners from their rivals.

Freehills set to lead in employee relations

Freehills is planning to keep its high profile employee relations team of lawyers in a merger with British firm Herbert Smith.

So, you’re acting for Big Tobacco

The decision to act for Big Tobacco is a tough one for law firms. Cigarette companies have deep pockets but their murky image can rub off.

Roxon takes a tough package Washington

Roxon takes a tough package Washington

Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon was in Washington DC this week to speak about the government’s cigarette plain-packaging laws.

So, you’re acting for Big Tobacco

Ashby ‘failed to take genuine steps’

The aggressive trial by media waged by advisers to political staffer James Ashby against former Speaker Peter Slipper risks angering the Federal Court when the hearing begins today.

Ashby targets Carr, Joyce in human rights complaint

Rule out James Hardie tax argument, says ATO official

Companies should not be able to dodge tax on a restructure or merger by claiming that if they knew they faced a tax bill they would have done nothing, a senior official of the Australian Taxation Office has said.

Brooks to be charged over phone hacking scandal

Updated | The former News International executive, Rebekah Brooks, and her husband, Charlie, a race horse trainer and friend of British Prime Minister David Cameron, are to be charged with perverting the course of justice over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

CPS charging announcement in relation to Rebekah Brooks and others

Women’s law awards up for review

Law firms love using citations from the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency to bolster their marketing material and appeal to graduates, but these awards may soon be much harder to get.

Departing CJ warns on money machines

Retiring South Australian Chief Justice John Doyle says some law firms are money-making machines, and that civil litigation would “strangle itself” unless reformed.

Doing deals in strange terrains

As major law firms adjust to the dramatic increase in the volume of work from clients operating in high-risk jurisdictions, novel methods for avoiding and resolving disputes are coming to the fore.

Equal-share, lockstep models in decline

Law firms around the world are increasingly abandoning a “share and share alike” mentality when it comes to partner pay, opting to make more salaried partners and swapping “lockstep” or equal pay structures for performance-based pay.

Last big trick in Centro circus

The negotiation of the $200 million Centro class action settlement was as full of complexity and intrigue as the mammoth four-year litigation.

Trading speaks volumes for Centro appeal

Court fees budget rise disappoints

A big hike in federal courts filing fees worth nearly $80 million, announced in the federal budget, risks entrenching a “user pays” system that unfairly burdens litigants, legal groups say.

Hearsay

Judges conflicted over Hardie case

The NSW Court of Appeal will be without some of its most senior judges when it decides the penalties for former James Hardie directors.

Actions speak loudly for shareholders.

Commentators have recently complained that shareholder class actions in Australia consist solely of a transfer of resources from one group of shareholders to another. But this is patently incorrect.

Sex ’n’ drugs ’n’ G&S – it must be law week

Legal groups and courts will celebrate “law week” around the country next week in a bid to demystify the law and raise public perceptions.

Thomson spending may breach electoral act

Craig Thomson is likely to have breached electoral law by failing to disclose nearly $270,000 in Health Services Union funds spent in his campaign for election to the NSW seat of Dobell, experts say.

Civil case against Thomson up in air