With the Delta variant of the coronavirus thrusting Australia’s largest cities back into a protracted lockdown, lawyers forced to return to remote work for the forseeable future are lamenting the renewed loss of colleague and client connections.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has rejected findings of dishonesty, deceit and abuse of process in seeking to overturn a $160,000 judgment against it, saying it had no “evil intent” in litigating a long-running dispute with former partner Thomas Martin.
A former Norton Rose Fulbright partner locked in a six-year legal battle with the firm has urged the Full Court to allow a $160,000 damages award in his favour to be recalculated, saying it did not provide enough “sting”, amounting to just $1,500 per partner.
The Australian Bar Association has criticised “flawed” methodology used to analyse the competency of judges, weighing in on controversy over the Australian Law Reform Commission’s handling of a submission to its judicial impartiality inquiry.
Barristers’ costs for a three-day hearing over alleged unfair dismissals of two childcare workers, which exceeded the $60,000 the workers were awarded, could have been avoided with a more “realistic” approach to negotiation, the Fair Work Commission has said.
Herbert Smith Freehills this week escaped a cross-claim that its advice made it liable for the alleged losses of Arrium’s lenders, but the judge who tossed the claim along with the banks’ cases expressed doubts about one of the law firm’s key arguments, a warning to other firms caught up in litigation as so-called concurrent wrongdoers.
Ashurst is expanding its financial regulation practice with the appointment of consumer credit expert Hong-Viet Nguyen from HWL Ebsworth Lawyers.
Baker McKenzie has been accused of negligence in a cross claim by Chinese lender Aoyin, which faces a lawsuit by accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers for unpaid fees over advice related to a failed bid to launch a bank in Australia.
Law firm Hall & Wilcox has snagged a new partner from Norton Rose Fulbright to join its construction and project disputes team, as part of an ambitious national growth strategy.
An appeals court has upheld a ruling that Sydney law firm Bartier Perry failed to adequately advise a lawyer about his rights under a partnership agreement, but trimmed a $1.4 million damages award against the firm.