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As states across Australia grapple with lockdowns and rising COVID-19 cases, lawyers practising in a range of areas, from employment to insurance, are bracing for a fresh wave of pandemic-related litigation before the year is out.
Reforms by the Morrison government passed earlier this month weakening continuous disclosure obligations will spur corporate defendants to engage in "expensive interlocutory warfare" to shut down class actions right off the bat, and plaintiffs lawyers are waiting to see how the courts interpret the new laws to determine these early strike-out fights.
As the no win, no fee model comes out on top in another high profile class action beauty contest, legal experts say third-party litigation funders will need to evolve and "fight back" to stay competitive.
Barristers and legal experts are calling on the new Attorney-General to actively commit to gender diversity when she begins to make appointments to the courts, as the federal government's promise to put its decision making through a women's "lens" raises hopes of more female judicial appointments to correct the imbalance on the bench.
Lawyerly's Litigation Firms of 2020 delivered significant victories for clients last year in bet-the-company matters, thriving in a tumultuous year that saw courts and litigants adapt to virtual trials and other new norms that are sure to outlast the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there was no shortage of pain and challenges for law firms as the coronavirus raged across the globe last year, a number of big firms also felt the sting of litigation from disgruntled clients, partners and employees.
Class action experts have knocked several recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee for reforming the class action system, including that group members be guaranteed at least 70 per cent of any settlement or judgment, saying this would be challenging to implement and could make disputes harder to resolve.
The recent appointments to the High Court have mystified some senior members of the bar, raising questions about the secretive nature of the process and prompting renewed calls for an independent judicial appointments panel to expose the selection process to the light of day.
The Murray Goulburn class action run by Elliott Legal bears similarities to the Banksia class action, a case rife with scandal and offered up by opponents as proof of the problems with the class action regime. The leading lawyers were the same in both cases. In one they have abandoned any claim to their fees and have walked away from their careers. In the other they walked away with $5 million.
Working with barristers can be inspirational or infuriating, according to the solicitors who brief them. While regular communication and mutual engagement will see the relationship between barrister and solicitor flourish, poor time management and a lack of respect can cause frustrations to bubble to the surface.