Australia’s corporate watchdog has lost its bid to obtain Ashurst’s advice to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group about potentially illegal bank fees “for now”, but a judge has signalled that this may not be the end of the matter.
Top tier law firm Gilbert + Tobin has admitted it underpaid graduate staff to the tune of $290,000, the latest law firm to be drawn into the underpayments scandal affecting Australian businesses.
Stepping into his role just as COVID-19 began its rapid spread across the globe, Herbert Smith Freehills’ recently appointed CEO Justin D’Agostino faced what he called a “baptism of fire”.
Westpac has been hit with a class action over a “shonky” car loan scheme, in what is the first class to be filed in Victoria Supreme Court following passage of a state law allowing lawyers to earn contingency fees.
National law firm Thomson Geer has effectively gutted the Brisbane office of global firm Dentons’, luring five key partners and their teams to beef up its real estate, banking and restructuring practices.
Victoria’s chief health officer has confirmed that a cluster of COVID-19 cases has been linked to law firm HWL Ebsworth, and has urged people to reconsider working from offices as coronavirus cases surge in the state.
Elderly victims of Ponzi schemer Bradley Sherwin have told the government’s class action inquiry of their “horrendous class action journey”, which led to a “pathetic outcome” in which the majority of a $12 million settlement with the Bank of Queensland went to the law firm and funder behind the case.
Westpac has denied claims in a shareholder class action filed in the wake of AUSTRAC proceedings alleging 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws, saying the information the class action says it should have disclosed to shareholders “did not exist”.
An increase in the number of unfair dismissal cases and the addition of JobKeeper disputes has seen the general caseload of the Fair Work Commission jump by 30 per cent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, FWC President Justice Iain Ross AO told Lawyerly.
When it comes to briefing barristers, solicitors lie on a spectrum of awesome to irksome. In a series of interviews with Lawyerly, some of Australia’s top counsel reveal what they like and what they don’t like about their instructing lawyers.