A fair trial cannot be conducted in a virtual courtroom, the judge overseeing the criminal case against former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald has said in adjourning their hearing for five months.
Seven West Media has filed a lawsuit against Bauer Media to compel the German company to complete its planned $40 million acquisition of the Australian media giant’s Pacific Magazines unit.
It has not taken long. Media reports of lawyers investigating potential class actions in connection with the Ruby Princess debacle will not be the last we hear about plaintiff law firms exploring class action litigation arising from COVID-19, say Chris Pagent and Brad Woodhouse of Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Herbert Smith Freehills is reducing partner profit distributions as part of cost-cutting measures in the face of uncertainty wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, and staff salary reviews have been postponed by six months.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered court transcript service Auscript to stop a wave of redundancies planned in response to the COVID-19 pandemic until it properly consults with staff.
While law firms turn to cost-cutting measures to manage shrinking revenues and uncertain cash flow during the coronavirus pandemic, including reducing staff pay and hours, partners may be last in line for a share of what’s left, a legal industry expert tells Lawyerly.
Bracing for a slowdown in work as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and calling on its staff to “face this situation together”, Norton Rose Fulbright is reducing pay and hours by up to 20 per cent for the majority of its 1000 lawyers and support staff in Australia.
The coronavirus has forged changes in the legal profession that will outlast the pandemic itself, leading to greater flexibility and efficiencies in an industry steeped in tradition and notably slow to adopt new technologies, sources told Lawyerly.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors is calling on the Federal Government to bar lawsuits over coronavirus-related disclosures, including class actions, but some lawyers warned the proposal would leave companies free to mislead and deceive shareholders.
Real estate agents advising tenants who may be unable to pay their rent to draw down their superannuation have raised the ire of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which warned they could be violating the Corporations Act.