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‘Petulant, rude’ conduct, underpayments, and rejecting firm practices: What’s hot in law this week (22–26 July)

This week has seen some fascinating disciplinary proceedings, while emerging practitioners are proving “very discerning” about their vocational choices. Here is your weekly round-up of the biggest stories for Australia’s legal profession.

user iconLawyers Weekly 27 July 2024 Big Law
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For the week from 22 July to 26 July, these were the 10 most-read stories on Lawyers Weekly (in case you missed them):

  1. Sydney solicitor hit with $1m penalty for misleading creditor scheme
A Sydney solicitor who promoted a “false and misleading” asset protection scheme was handed a $1 million penalty, banned from managing corporations, and told to refund millions to duped students.

  1. Judge accused of corruption by ousted solicitor, fake lawyer
The ongoing saga triggered by a fake lawyer’s alleged threats, an ousted solicitor and the law firm they operated has been derailed by yet another attempt to have the judge recuse himself on the grounds of corrupt conduct and “morally perverse” comments.

  1. Overseas lawyer criticised for ‘petulant, rude’ conduct in Australian court
A New Zealand lawyer faced disciplinary proceedings after accusing an Australian judge of ignoring her duties and behaviour that was rude, confrontational, and petulant during proceedings.

  1. Letter ‘X’ at centre of lawyer’s fight with former firm
A former principal lawyer and senator who took his former law firm to court over a single letter may soon face a cross-claim.

  1. Firm’s ‘fastidious’ record-keeping defence against fee dispute
A boutique law firm’s “fastidious” record keeping saved it from a legal fee dispute brought against it by a former client.

  1. Legal service allegedly gave negligent advice to child sexual abuse victims
A Melbourne community legal service has been hit with a class action over allegations it took a “sausage factory approach” to sexual abuse clients and robbed them of hundreds of thousands in compensation.

  1. Slater & Gordon self-reports to Fair Work over underpayments, understated leave balances
National law firm Slater & Gordon has identified a payroll error in leave accrual, which it believes has resulted in a collective underpayment of at least $300,000 for around 100 of its current and former employees.

  1. Reputation at stake for aspiring lawyer fighting misconduct decision
An aspiring international lawyer convinced a court to set aside a decision of the Australian National University to ban him from stepping foot on campus over misconduct findings.

  1. Criminal lawyer Zali Burrows’ case against firm ‘doomed to fail’
A court says criminal lawyer Zali Burrows’ fourth attempt to avoid paying her former law firm $12,000 in legal bills was “doomed to fail”.

  1. ‘Graduates are rejecting the traditional law firm practices’
While the employment market is overall positive for legal graduates, new lawyers can be “very discerning” about what they want from their employer despite higher competition for entry-level roles.

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