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Legal profession

This Month

NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell is pursuing reform of the PLT regime.

$10k and rife with cheating: Judge blasts mandatory lawyers’ course

A survey commissioned by NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell has revealed deep dissatisfaction about the compulsory legal training regime.

What legal jargon taught this solicitor about translating literature

Stephanie Smee left corporate law to become a translator, where she says the ‘discipline of thought’ from her legal training remains influential.

Hicksons, Hunt & Hunt to merge as AI changes legal outlook

Public and private sector clients are demanding firms push down costs with AI, forcing smaller firms to look for scale to avoid unsustainable costs.

Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, railed against his firm’s decision to strike a $163 million deal with the White House.

How Trump is putting law firms in a no-win situation

A swath of law firms have signed deals to head off the White House, but they have faced internal dissent for caving to threats.

Lisa Macqueen, Cleancorp CEO.

New forum for women in facilities builds connections

Female-friendly group environment helps business relationships form naturally, without any hard sell required.

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Profusion Group managing director Simone Mears

Non-gendered approach to reproductive leave counters unconscious bias

A ‘paradigm-shifting moment’ led Profusion Group to offer health and wellbeing days that go beyond traditional ideas.

John Nestel left Herbert Smith Freehills to team up with Lachlan Edwards in 2018.

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.

Demanding billable hours targets can make law firms unpleasant and stressful working environments.

Long hours, distant targets: Lawyers are getting a raw deal

Demanding billable hours targets can make law firms unpleasant and stressful working environments. But there are better ways.

Maurice Blackburn has resolved a pay dispute with staff.

Maurice Blackburn strikes deal with staff after 12-month stand-off

The workers’ rights law firm has reached a deal with staff, which includes pay rises of up to 12.5 per cent over three years.

Law firm reaches $160m deal with Trump as industry divide deepens

New York firm Milbank committed $160 million to White House-friendly initiatives after the administration raised concerns about DEI and its pro bono practice.

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

MinterEllison chief executive Virginia Briggs says the firm’s updated pay structure will help attract top partners.

Big billing MinterEllison partners in line for more lucrative paydays

The top-tier law firm has followed some of its major rivals in creating a larger gap between top earners and the rest of the partnership to prevent poaching.

ATI founder Christian Beck has won the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race two years in a row. Now he is hoping to win the IPO markets.

InfoTrack owner ATI Global greenlights IPO

The owner of a stable of legal software is gearing up for an IPO in 2027.

Slaters refers former staffer to police over incendiary mass email

The law firm says a forensic investigation has found the sender of the infamous memo had access to sensitive data and was familiar with its cybersecurity.

Richard Cobden, the veteran Sydney barrister, is a patron of new works for Omega Ensemble and wants others to join him.

How this top barrister became a ‘Medici’ of classical music

Senior counsel Richard Cobden has now funded three works for Sydney’s Omega Ensemble. He wants you to know that commissioning is not as hard as you might think.

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We fact-checked the email Slater and Gordon says is largely fiction

The now infamous all-staff email sent to more than 900 Slater and Gordon staffers was unsparing in its criticism of the firm. Here’s what we know about key claims.

Journalist Janet Albrechtsen and Walter Sofronoff KC.

Lehrmann criminal inquiry judge committed ‘serious corrupt conduct’

The ACT Integrity Commission has made the finding against Walter Sofronoff, KC, who oversaw the inquiry into the aborted rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

Bridgett Maddox and Steve Palmer.

Slater and Gordon paid out convicted fraudster

The law firm paid Bridgett Maddox at least five months’ salary late last year after she was suspended, while Daniel Andrews’ former lawyer Steve Palmer helped handle her departure.

A decades-long rap sheet of deceit blows open Slater and Gordon probe

The woman whose first name matches metadata in the rogue salary and performance spreadsheet that erupted into a crisis at the law firm is a convicted fraudster.

One of the directors was accused of “belittling” an employee by not saying ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ to them.

BlueRock facing $3m in directors’ dismissal claims

The professional services firm is alleged to have sacked one accounting director without notice in part because he did not say ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ to a staffer.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/legal-profession-huu