Australian public M&A has rebounded strongly in 2026, with activity expected to remain robust in the near term as selective buyers pursue quality opportunities despite heightened regulatory scrutiny and global uncertainty.

National law firm Clayton Utz has awarded its Access to Justice Award to Victorian community legal centre Youthlaw.

Queensland-based firm Travis Schultz & Partners has appointed a former partner of national practice Moray & Agnew as a special counsel in its Cairns office.

A 2012 High Court case exposed a problem every advocate should recognise: the form in which a statistic is presented can alter its persuasive force, even when the underlying arithmetic remains unchanged. Numbers do not arrive in court naked. They arrive framed, writes Rebecca Ward, MBA.