Legal Ethics

Reforms that would make lawyers subject to the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regime have received mixed reviews from legal professionals, with one expert saying the regime was a “blunt instrument” and could put lawyers in an ill-suited policing role. 

Reforms to simplify and modernise Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime will see lawyers and accountants subject to the regulations for the first time.

A solicitor and a Sydney silk have been cleared of allegations they gave negligent advice in an action against a law firm, with a judge finding the barrister was “diligent, thorough, careful and ethical”.

A leading construction and commercial law silk in Sydney has been subject to a reprimand by the NSW legal services commissioner for alleged sexual harassment and workplace bullying. 

A judge has blessed a law firm’s $16.6 million legal bill for running two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven despite a contradictor’s argument that it had a “troubling” practice of deferring its fees to benefit the funder that bankrolled the cases. 

A Victorian barrister has been found guilty of contempt of court for representing her sons despite an order barring her from legal practice, but a judge dismissed a call by the legal watchdog to record a criminal conviction, saying the lawyer had not been deliberately defiant.

Some of Australia’s biggest law firms were targeted by lawsuits in 2022, facing allegations of negligence or bad advice from clients, or else accused by their own partners of misconduct.

Editors and journalists from Australia’s largest news organisations have protested recent changes to the Federal Court Rules that restrict the public’s access to documents filed with the court, calling it a “full-frontal assault” on open justice. 

A judge who previously acted for a United Petroleum Group company in a “highly acrimonious” case eight years ago has refused to recuse herself from adjudicating a new dispute involving a related company.

A prominent Melbourne lawyer and his wife have been restrained from acting in a property dispute, after a judge found they misled the court and facilitated a false settlement in favour of their clients.