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The ATO and PwC were in a long-running battle over expansive claims before the tax scandal broke.

Harsher penalties urged for PwC-style false privilege claims

The changing nature of law firms is making privilege claims more difficult to determine, a federal government discussion paper says.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Private equity deal: Slater & Gordon

Slater & Gordon staff win pay rise of up to 22pc

Long-running pay negotiations between the Labor-aligned legal firm and staff have ended without a key union demand being met.

  • Maxim Shanahan

Are you guilty of using this year’s most awful jargon?

Here’s the past 12 months in words and phrases that professionals love to use, and what they’re really saying. We hope to never see any of them again.

  • Edmund Tadros

Robin Khuda’s go-to finance lawyer finds a home at Baker McKenzie

Street Talk understands banking and finance partner Bryan Paisley has returned to the top-tier firm he left five years ago. 

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

High-powered law firm ends eight-year dispute with ex-general manager

Solicitor to the powerful John Atanaskovic and his long-serving general manager Elizabeth Kelly issued statements saying their eight-year suit was concluded.

  • Myriam Robin

Data Trackers

The final report by the parliamentary inquiry into audit quality has been tabled.

Financial Review consulting salary guide 2022-23

The full guide to how much you can earn at Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC.

  • Edmund Tadros

Inside the undoing of PwC

For the first time, the Financial Review tells the story from the perspective of the people inside PwC and the Tax Office.

Professional Moves

A scene from Picnic at Hanging Rock. From left: Karen Robson as Irma, Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda, Jane Vallis as Marion and Christine Schuler as Edith.

From Picnic at Hanging Rock to making it as a lawyer in Hollywood

Karen Robson starred in the 1975 film, then went to law school and founded the Los Angeles office of a law firm where she still practises today.

  • Updated
  • Daniel Arbon, Maxim Shanahan and Ciara Seccombe
Incoming Deloitte Australia chief executive Joanne Gorton.

New Deloitte CEO reveals executive team

Incoming Deloitte Australia chief executive Joanne Gorton has kept six executives and added four new members to the team.

  • Edmund Tadros

Another Corrs partner follows rebel group to KWM

Corrs property partner Lizzie Knight will follow seven Corrs partners to King & Wood Mallesons, becoming the latest to move between the two major firms.

  • Maxim Shanahan
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This Month

Incoming Deloitte Australia chief executive Joanne Gorton.

New Deloitte CEO reveals executive team

Incoming Deloitte Australia chief executive Joanne Gorton has kept six executives and added four new members to the team.

  • Edmund Tadros

EY sues five partners who left for Alvarez & Marsal

The civil action comes as EY’s leadership asks at least eight partners to leave as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

  • Edmund Tadros
MinterEllison staff say using AI tools has helped saved them hours of work time each week.

MinterEllison sets target of 80pc using AI by March

The majority of lawyers and partners at the big six Australian law firm will be required to use the new technology in their daily work next year.

  • Edmund Tadros
The country’s biggest law firms are cutting staff for the first time in years, but their mid-tier rivals are still growing.

Top-tier firms are cutting lawyer numbers for the first time in years

The country’s most prominent legal practices have reduced the number of lawyers they employ in the past six months. But their mid-tier rivals are hiring.

  • Maxim Shanahan

Another Corrs partner follows rebel group to KWM

Corrs property partner Lizzie Knight will follow seven Corrs partners to King & Wood Mallesons, becoming the latest to move between the two major firms.

  • Maxim Shanahan
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Dr Melissa Kaltner and Mark Galvin  are ex-EY and are launching a new boutique consultancy called Lumenia. Friday 9th February 2024 AFR photo Louie Douvis .

Boutique consultancy thrives in difficult market for major firms

Specialist advisory firm Lumenia has quickly built up a roster of clients thanks to its ability to take on smaller projects and adapt to changing customer needs.

  • Edmund Tadros
New Alvarez & Marsal managing directors (from left): Paul Gallagher, Shahzeb Panhwar and Jayde Thompson.

‘Eat what you kill:’ how this consultancy is taking on the big four

Alvarez & Marsal’s remuneration model means managing directors can potentially earn multiples of the average big four partner pay.

  • Edmund Tadros
People lay flowers at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea on Sunday.

HSF in damage control after M&A partner’s ‘deeply offensive’ tweet

Herbert Smith Freehills has started an internal investigation after a tweet directed at Jeremy Leibler.

  • Mark Di Stefano

McKinsey pays $190m to resolve probes into South Africa bribes

The firm participated in a years-long scheme to bribe government officials in South Africa, according to US officials.

  • Stephen Foley
Law Partnership Survey

Explore: Law Partnership Survey results for second-half of 2024

The latest results show law firms continue to perform strongly, boosted by big-ticket deals, litigation assignments, and the steady flow of fees from insolvencies and disputes.

  • Maxim Shanahan and Edmund Tadros
KWM’s Renae Lattey, MinterEllison’s Virginia Briggs and HSF’s Kristin Stammer.

It was a boom year for law firms. But signs of a slowdown have emerged

Law firms held their gains in the second half of 2024, but some leaders are wary of rising pressures on price and profit margins.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Legal regulators and courts are reacting against law firms’ rapid embrace of artificial intelligence.

New AI rules for lawyers: stick to email, not legal work

Law firms have made a rapid embrace of AI, but regulators have recommended lawyers only use the technology for basic tasks.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Ansa Finance manager Joshua Fuoco is also facing charges for allegedly managing a company while banned by ASIC.

Accounting, audit and finance roles added to fast-track visa list

Jobs and Skills Australia has added a range of accounting, audit and finance roles to its list of occupations eligible to apply for new fast-track visas.

  • Edmund Tadros
Clyde & Co and GilChrist Connell.

Wave of partner exits unsettles Clyde & Co amid turnaround struggles

The London-headquartered law firm’s entire local cybersecurity practice is leaving, taking to one-third the number of senior departures over the last 12 months.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Former federal Labor minister Stephen Conroy: at least he’s entertaining.

Furious Stephen Conroy was dumped as Business Council lobbyist

When did the BCA exactly became a discredited rabble of a business lobby? And was it around the time Conroy’s TG Public Affairs ceased receiving a retainer?

  • Myriam Robin
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Clayton Utz’s Niro Ananda was named partner in 2009.

Clayton Utz M&A partner Niro Ananda set to resign; KWM eyed

Sources suggested on Tuesday that Ananda was headed to rival law firm King & Wood Mallesons. A KWM spokesman declined to comment.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

PwC in talks to offload insolvency unit to Teneo

Insolvency teams have a long history of moving in and out of the big four firms as they become frustrated at being constantly conflicted out of work.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Law Partnership Survey Paul Jenkins, Victoria Hepburn

MinterEllison raids PwC, KPMG to build up consulting arm

Consultants now make up almost 10 per cent of fee-earners at the firm, as clients prove increasingly willing to seek non-legal advice from law firms.

  • Edmund Tadros
Steve Evans in Melbourne

Demand for offshore white-collar workers triples firm’s revenue

ConnectOS specialises in hiring and managing low-cost staff in the Philippines on behalf of other companies.

  • Edmund Tadros
Developing true partnerships with clients, rather than simply being a supplier of talent, is a key to the success of Acquisitive Advisory.

Unlocking growth through an ‘integrated talent strategy’

In today’s fiercely competitive market, where securing the right talent is as critical as capital itself, forward-thinking firms are beginning to view talent acquisition not simply as a human resources (HR) function but as a foundation of growth.

Sponsored 

by Acquisitive Advisory

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services