This Month
Law graduates are about to crack a salary record
Top-tier graduates will earn more than $100,000 this year – in Sydney only – but law firms remain tight-lipped on pay rates despite moves towards transparency elsewhere.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Queensland in secret bid to buy stricken coal-fired power plant
It’s three years since Queensland power station Callide C blew up, and the fallout hasn’t stopped. Now, a secret deal for the government to buy a 50 per cent stake is in doubt.
- Anthony Macdonald
February
How to get a job at a top-tier law firm
Mere legal ability is no longer enough to secure a prized top-tier clerkship. Firms are looking for excellence in all aspects of life. Here’s our guide.
- Maxim Shanahan
Corrs lags top law firms on gender pay gap
Firms with a higher proportion of women partners tended to have a smaller median pay gap among staff, new data from WGEA shows.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Exclusive
- Legal industry
Freehills gets new M&A head as Gilbert + Tobin goes west
M&A partner Matthew FitzGerald will lead Herbert Smith Freehills’ corporate division from May, while Gilbert + Tobin has acquired a Perth-based boutique firm.
- Updated
- Maxim Shanahan
October 2023
Gilbert + Tobin bails out of Barangaroo
The move is another blow to the Barangaroo precinct, which has struggled to retain tenants due to decisions to move elsewhere or downsize.
- Updated
- Campbell Kwan and Maxim Shanahan
September 2023
The $108 billion Japanese giant vying with Telstra for Versent
The mooted acquisition, expected to be worth as much as $400 million, was revealed by Street Talk on Thursday. The sale process is being run by Goldman Sachs.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
August 2023
Why putting up with boring tasks made this executive a better boss
Fiona Lang of BBC Studios says mastering technical skills early in your career will give you confidence later on.
- Sally Patten
- Exclusive
- Legal industry
Gilbert + Tobin, DLA Piper defy slump in law firm taxpayer work
Gilbert + Tobin and DLA Piper surged up the rankings for government legal work in 2022-23, but last year’s No.1 firm King & Wood Mallesons tumbled.
- Ronald Mizen
July 2023
Clayton Utz partner jumps ship to Gilbert + Tobin
Street Talk understands restructuring and insolvency partner Orla McCoy has resigned.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
War for legal talent fires up in the ‘engine room’
There is a strong crop of new senior associates, but some firms told The Australian Financial Review Law Partnership Survey they can’t get enough staff.
- Michael Pelly and Edmund Tadros
June 2023
Ashurst names Pathak head of M&A, adds new partner
The high-profile lawyer is known for working on some of the largest public M&A and private equity transactions in Australia.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
‘I’m not panicking’: Yes advocate says don’t talk down Voice
Voice advocates say the Yes campaign is on track for success despite flagging support in public polls and a call from Indigenous leader Noel Pearson for messaging to better highlight the concept of constitutional recognition.
- Tom McIlroy
Gilbert + Tobin M&A partner resigns
Pathak was co-head of mergers & acquisitions in Melbourne alongside fellow partner Alex Kauye.
- Sarah Thompson, Emma Rapaport and Kanika Sood
April 2023
Best Lawyers: Women dominate ‘ones to watch’ list
Women account for more than half of the lawyers in the Ones to Watch category, underscoring their growing presence in the profession.
- Michael Pelly
Gilbert + Tobin offers staff $20,000 AI ‘bounty’
The leading law firm says it wants to make the development of AI “fun and rewarding” for staff.
- Michael Pelly
March 2023
Allens, Ashurst partners change firms
Partners at Allens and Ashurst are on the move, while the wait goes on for a new Federal Court chief justice.
- Michael Pelly
- Exclusive
- Funding
‘LinkedIn for lawyers’ failed, but its successor is in the money
In October 2020, Nexl had just three months worth of money left and only $1000 of monthly revenue trickling in, it performed a ‘pivot’ and has just closed $4m funding.
- Tess Bennett
February 2023
Law firm partner pay dives as demand slows
Law firms are recovering after a slow start to the year but partner pay is down, according to the Thomson-Reuters Peer Monitor benchmarking service.
- Michael Pelly
Gilbert + Tobin feels the heat as Qatar changes tack in strip-search case
Qatar Airways will no longer claim sovereignty in the Doha strip-search case, which is causing disquiet at the law firm.
- Michael Pelly