This Month
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
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
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
- Updated
- Courts
Meet the eight new judges joining the Federal Court
The president of the Victorian Bar, the head of ANU Law School and leading commercial barristers are among a swathe of new appointments.
- Maxim Shanahan
Pretty textbook stuff: Life as a lawyer in London
Former Adelaide resident Lucy McKenzie managed to write an 87-page textbook while working in Ashurst’s UK dispute resolution practice. But the best thing about working as a lawyer in London? The leave.
- Updated
- Daniel Arbon, Maxim Shanahan and Ciara Seccombe
- Exclusive
- Law Partnership Survey
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
- Exclusive
- Class action
Why top litigators are worried about a Dutton government
Litigation funders are worried about a crackdown on class action funding if the Coalition wins next year’s election.
- Updated
- Ronald Mizen
29 years is enough! Herbert Smith Freehills’ Tony Damian jumps ship
Damian’s expected to join Ashurst on a $7.5 million salary package, in what rivals say is the price law firms are increasingly having to cough up to secure marquee partners.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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
- Exclusive
- Mark Dreyfus
Treasury head Steven Kennedy backs ASIC, ACCC on barrister pay
The department’s secretary has personally lobbied to end a 13-year freeze on what barristers can earn for doing government work.
- Ronald Mizen
November
- Updated
- Vale
Former attorney-general Tom Hughes, KC, dies aged 101
The former fighter pilot and barrister has been hailed as a leading figure in the history of the Australian legal profession.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Exclusive
- Slater & Gordon
Union slams ‘shameful’ Slater & Gordon offer after pay talks fail
Slater & Gordon has put a pay deal direct to staff, after Fair Work-brokered negotiations failed on Wednesday.
- Maxim Shanahan
Pro bono laggards rewarded as major law firms cut free hours
Law firms were warned that failure to meet a target for pro bono hours would endanger government assignments, but laggards have been rewarded.
- Maxim Shanahan
Government legal spending hits $600m
Commonwealth spending on legal fees increased rapidly before an overhaul of the government panel, but barristers’ bills were trimmed.
- Maxim Shanahan
Baker McKenzie abandons merger plan after second defeat
The vote failed by a greater margin than the initial ballot and upends management’s strategy for the local division of the global firm.
- Maxim Shanahan
Law firm accused of improper billing and discrimination
A legal assistant alleges he was forcibly made redundant at Lander & Rogers after complaining about appropriate access when he started using a wheelchair.
- Maxim Shanahan
‘Happy days’: Trump presidency poised to benefit Australian law firms
They predict a rise in bills following Donald Trump’s election victory, as his administration pledges to cut regulations and tear up trade deals.
- Maxim Shanahan
Former Slater & Gordon HR boss alleges firm knew about underpayments
In July, the Labor-aligned law firm disclosed a decade-long miscalculation of leave, which had left staff out of pocket. It attributed this to human error.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Exclusive
- Partnership
Baker McKenzie partners reject overhaul plans
The firm had hoped to integrate the Australian operations into the broader Asian division in a bid to combat partner exits and financial instability.
- Maxim Shanahan
Who is Alan Jones’ lawyer?
Criminal solicitor Bryan Wrench is a regular fixture in the tabloid press, and has a long list of prominent clients.
- Maxim Shanahan
