A leading class action and insolvency litigator at Squire Patton Boggs is leaving the firm to launch a boutique outfit with plans to shake up the legal industry, including by bringing class actions on a contingency fee basis.
Facing a class action by shareholders alleging negligence over advice to Slater & Gordon, law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler is bringing proceedings against its former client to use files in defence of the case.
A barrister and former associate director of a boutique Melbourne law firm has brought legal action alleging the firm wrongfully terminated his employment after he complained about a “culture of staff going behind people’s backs”.
US litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel has lured a leading patent attorney from Allens to grow its Sydney office.
A last ditch effort to resolve a case brought by a restructuring and insolvency solicitor against Russells Lawyers over his dismissal has failed and the dispute will head to trial this year, more than three years after he was sacked.
Ashurst has become the latest law firm to be ensnared in the underpayments scandal affecting Australian businesses, with the firm admitting to underpaying a number of staff covered under the legal services award.
The managing partner of Hicksons Lawyers has been accused of saying that if a former partner got pregnant, it would “ruin all [his] plans,” according to a sex discrimination lawsuit that argues the firm’s requirements for promotion to equity partner were discriminatory.
A law firm has dodged a $6.5 million negligence claim by a Tasmanian agricultural business over advice supplied about agreements entered into with a division of collapsed forestry giant Gunns Limited, with a judge slamming the company director’s evidence as “rambling and non-responsive”.
Running a law firm is not without risk, chief among them staring down a lawsuit by a client, an ex-partner or employee, even a rival firm. Last year, Australian firms faced numerous actions alleging everything from sex discrimination to negligence.
A court has slashed the costs awarded to a Tucker & Cowen name partner in a lawsuit brought by the liquidators of failed fund manager Equititrust, citing a recent High Court ruling that found self-represented lawyers cannot recover their own expenses.