Special

Maurice Blackburn’s head of employment law in Queensland, Giri Sivaraman, has been appointed as the next race discrimination commissioner, commencing his five year stint in March. 

Former Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has lost a bid to split her defamation case against state party leader John Pesutto, after a judge expressed his reluctance to have the court sort through her claim that publications by Pesutto carried 67 different defamatory imputations against her, including that she is a neo-Nazi. 

Australia’s merger review regime is “outdated” and in need of an overhaul, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which says companies must explain why their acquisitions should get the all-clear.

A professor from Texas has no business offering an opinion on the meaning of One Nation senator Pauline Hanson’s exhortation to the Greens party deputy leader that she “piss off back to Pakistan”, a court has heard.

Ashurst has bolstered its Sydney real estate practice with the appointment of a new partner, who joins from King & Wood Mallesons. 

Webb Henderson has snagged a leading litigation and regulatory partner from Corrs Chambers Westgarth to join its team in Sydney.

Australian IP lawyers are closely watching The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit seeking billions in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, but it remains to be seen whether Australia will become a favoured jurisdiction for similar suits or be left playing catch up, experts say.

The latest judge to join the NSW Supreme Court has expressed a desire to foster a serious but collegiate environment for advocates and has remarked on the rising importance of legal directories for barristers. 

The Business Council of Australia has advised the government that civil penalties are not necessary to ensure compliance with the Modern Slavery Act, saying a proposed Anti-Slavery Commissioner should not impose “additional bureaucratic burdens” on businesses. 

Expect more legal battles this year over the right to work from home, with employees continuing to demand flexibility but businesses starting to push back, according to legal experts.