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Women in Law finalists revealed, Woolworths and Coles sued, and a cash rate hold: What’s hot in law this week (23–27 September)

This week, the RBA decided to continue to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, the ACCC filed proceedings against supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, and the finalists for the Women in Law Awards 2024 were revealed. Here is your weekly round-up of the biggest stories for Australia’s legal profession.

user iconLawyers Weekly 28 September 2024 Big Law
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For the week from 23–27 September, these were the 10 most-read stories on Lawyers Weekly (in case you missed them):

1. RBA reveals September 2024 cash rate call

 
 

Last week, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point – the first cut for Americans since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this special announcement, brought to you by Legal Home Loans, the RBA decided to continue to hold the cash rate in its two-day board meeting.

2. A judge’s tips on using impostor syndrome for good

Despite being rendered breathless by an early experience on the County Court bench, Judge Frank Gucciardo says that moment of impostor syndrome developed into an important lesson for his role.

3. ACCC sues Woolworths, Coles for alleged misleading discounted prices

The competition regulator is taking Australia’s two biggest supermarkets to court for allegedly breaching the Australian Consumer Law by misleading consumers through discount pricing claims on hundreds of common supermarket products.

4. Finalists revealed for Women in Law Awards 2024

Lawyers Weekly and principal partner nrol are pleased to announce the finalists for this year’s Women in Law Awards.

5. Qld sole practitioner reprimanded over disclosure blunder

The sole practitioner of a Queensland law firm was reprimanded over his failure to make “full and frank disclosures” about a mortgage interest.

6. ACT solicitor’s plea to stay strike-off application fails

An ACT solicitor facing a strike-off application failed to have a court stay disciplinary proceedings so a mediation could take place instead.

7. Can GenAI outperform Australian law students?

An NSW-based law lecturer recently undertook an experiment, pitting his criminal law cohort against 10 separate AI-generated responses for an end-of-semester exam. The results might surprise you.

8. New laws ensure ‘courts aren’t just the realm of a wealthy few’

The A-G, unions, and the legal assistance sector are celebrating the passage of the Costs Protection Bill, which prevents courts from ordering applicants to pay a respondent’s costs in discrimination cases.

9. Right to Disconnect: Feasible or fantasy for lawyers?

The “Right to Disconnect” law throws a curveball at law firms, forcing them to rethink how they operate. But it’s also a huge opportunity, writes Evana Diep.

10. 4 challenges for a law firm’s HR team

Here, we bring you an episode from Lawyers Weekly sister brand HR Leader, in which we unpack the headline hurdles facing the human resources departments in professional services businesses, such as law firms, and how HR can and should manage those issues.