September
Australia’s top five powerbrokers in the law for 2024
It was a momentous year for the High Court, the competition regulator and outspoken judges. Here are the people setting the agenda in legal circles.
August
Meet the bobsledding chief justice shaking up the courts
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia head Will Alstergren might have had a very different career if his sporting ambitions had been fulfilled.
- Updated
High Court asks: If a judge punched a lawyer, could anyone be sued?
The question of what a judge has to do in order to be sued was at the heart of a High Court hearing that pondered a $300,000 payout against a judge for wrongly jailing a family law litigant.
Corruption boss warns on lawyers, consultants and the election
As the anti-corruption agency marks its first year, chief Paul Brereton says electoral donations and pork-barrelling are in focus, as well as consultants doing government work.
NSW’s top judge takes aim at Victoria on class actions
NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell says the introduction of contingency fees in Victoria has “skewed” the market for class actions.
Key figure in Lawyer X aftermath among 25 new Victorian silks
The list of 17 men and eight women was announced by Victoria’s Chief Justice on Thursday.
Top barrister Richard McHugh to be a judge
The silk and novelist will join the NSW Court of Appeal on August 20
- Exclusive
- Immigration
New migration judges appointed to stop ‘bad actors’
Nine new federal judges will start work on Monday as part of a push to tackle delays in migration cases.
July
The High Court’s youngest judge is its new contrarian
James Edelman was once mistaken for a drinks waiter by a fellow judge at a cocktail party, now he’s arguably the High Court’s most interesting justice.
Bruce Lehrmann’s new lawyer is not used to defamation cases
Colourful Sydney lawyer Zali Burrows is now representing former political adviser Bruce Lehrmann as he pushes ahead with his defamation appeal.
Accident puts war crimes judge in wheelchair
The severe injuries sustained by Mark Weinberg, KC, are a blow to the Office of the Special Investigator into war crimes in Afghanistan.
CFMEU treats $19m in fines as ‘cost of doing business’
Judges have constantly called out the rogue union while issuing workplace penalties of about $19 million since 2016 – including the latest on Thursday.
- Updated
Chief justice intervenes in tax plan for judges
Federal Court Chief Justice Debbie Mortimer has also banned judges using their travel allowance for conferences.
‘Give her a go’: New judge blasts ‘painfully slow’ progress for women
Jane Needham blasted the “painfully slow” progress of women in law and urged barristers to consider briefing “that young woman who went to a school you haven’t heard of”.
- Exclusive
- Legal industry
The Federal Court turmoil that’s destroying staff morale
The Federal Court is grappling with high executive turnover, a troubled technology transformation and fallout from a document access regime that has upset media and judges.
Unions hail return of $35m Industrial Court
Unions NSW boss Mark Morey says the court will “help moderate the excesses” of the federal system.
- Analysis
- Legal industry
Santos takes aim at ‘cause lawyering’ in Barossa fight
The resources giant is going for the jugular in its fight with the Environmental Defenders Office over the NT gas pipeline.
June
Meet the most expensive lawyer in Australia
Tax specialist Mark Robertson, KC, is in a league of his own, charging $6250 an hour and $50,000 for an eight-hour day.
How the land rights game changed with Juukan Gorge
Since the destruction of Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto in 2020, there is a higher bar for native title agreements and increased approval times.
- Updated
The man who made ‘saintly’ judge lose his cool
A biography of Sir Gerard Brennan reveals the family man who will be remembered for his Mabo judgment.