This Month
‘Generational challenge’: Energy transition powers legal sector
Ashurst partner Aylin Cunsolo says Australia is at a critical point where ageing fossil fuel generators are being retired and need to be replaced.
Qantas Chairman’s Lounge holdout needed ACCC workaround
The problem with recruiting the creme de la creme into the public service is you’re hardly dealing with people used to slumming it.
Firms brace for AI to come for the prized six-minute billable unit
Despite a desire for fixed-fee arrangements and a shift in attitude among law firm leaders, the traditional method remains the charging tool of choice.
Explore the Law Partnership Survey results for the first half of 2025
Firms are performing strongly, thanks to demand for advice around corporate disputes, energy transition and infrastructure deals.
Revealed: The law firms that have grown (and shrunk) the most
Strong demand for corporate dispute, energy transition and infrastructure legal advice has created a two-speed legal market.
June
Luxury Perth tower’s sky-high views require R rating at Ritz-Carlton
Tenants at one of Perth’s most lavish office blocks are being treated to some particularly exclusive views courtesy of a 5 star neighbour.
Why lawyers are overworked and (relatively) underpaid
Lawyers are employed to work 38 hours a week, but that is a fantasy at most of Australia’s top-tier law firms.
Freehills’ M&A rainmaker lands at Ashurst in law firm shake-up
Tony Damian has joined Ashurst, where it is hoped his leading practice will boost the firm’s competitiveness with the likes of Allens, Freehills and KWM.
Forget auctions, bilateral deals are all the rage in PE land: Freehills
New analysis from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer shows 78 per cent of private equity M&A deals in 2024 were done bilaterally.
April
Herbert Smith Freehills at impasse over partner pay changes
HSF management has been unable to convince partners to follow other firms and change its remuneration structure, as its merger with American firm Kramer Levin looms.
Richard White keeps million-dollar pay with new WiseTech role
Many of the founder’s new responsibilities outlined to the ASX mirror that of a traditional CEO, even though he was made to leave that role.
HSF partners approve Kramer Levin merger, adding $700m in revenues
They voted “overwhelmingly” to endorse the deal, making the firm the first major Australian partnership with an expansive, integrated operation in the US.
15 years of drift: Why global law firms can’t make it in Australia
UK and US law firms are battling for market share on either side of the Atlantic. But expansion has proven much more difficult in Australia.
March
Don’t worry about Trump’s tariffs, IPOs are coming: Freehills
The law firm’s annual temperature check of equity capital markets says this year could top the $1.1 billion raised across big-ticket IPOs last year.
‘David and Goliath’ firm nabs six partners from global outfit
Piper Alderman has hired six partners from Squire Patton Boggs, as the international legal market in Australia undergoes another shift.
US law firm King & Spalding readies Australian assault
Street Talk understands the Atlanta-headquartered multinational is exploring opening an Australian beachhead.
February
Tech bros share the riches (with their lawyers)
Lawyers are cashing in on the legal scandals rocking the start-up world, but it’s tougher for those footing the bill on the other side to the founders.
December 2024
PE deal makers tipped to “get creative” in 2025 as exits mount
The payday isn’t as big for the equity capital markets bankers, a backdoor listing lacking the hoopla of an IPO. But whatever works to get things moving.
Bigwig lenders line up to bankroll Carlyle’s big waste services buy
Confidential documents seen by Street Talk show the Nasdaq-listed asset manager has secured a covenant-lite unitranche loan.
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.