Offering a mixed review of the NSW budget on Tuesday, the Law Society of NSW welcomed the funding boost to legal aid and other key agencies but said the state should do more to modernize the courts.
Westpac has secured confidentiality orders blocking the release of details of an adverse action case by its former head of strategy, after arguing that publicity would hamper settlement talks and force it to defend itself in the media.
Four judges made this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list for their service to the law and the judiciary.
Justice Tim Faulkner’s “dessicated” sense of humour was on display during a swearing in ceremony on Thursday, during which the new judge thanked his colleagues on the bench for their handwritten letters of welcome, one of which he said was “completely unreadable”.
She earned the nickname ‘Shock and Orr’ as senior counsel assisting the banking royal commission, but the Victoria Court of Appeal’s newest judge told those gathered to welcome her to the bench on Tuesday that she thought twice before accepting the daunting assignment.
The Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court has expressed concerns about a “slide in public respect” for institutions such as the court and the creeping phenomenon of “truth decay”.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has issued ground rules for deploying artificial intelligence in litigation, urging litigants to exercise “particular caution” when using ChatGPT and other generative AI tools to draft affidavits and witness statements.
Australia’s peak legal body has welcomed the injection of funds promised in Tuesday’s budget announcement for the appointment of extra federal judges to clear a backlog in migration and protection visa applications. But the funds allocated to legal assistance services is a “fraction” of what is needed, the Law Council said.
A County Court of Victoria judge has been found to have breached the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers in his handling of a rape trial, following a complaint by the state’s top prosecutor.
Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko was praised as hard working, a “model of humility and generosity” and “masterful” during a farewell ceremony on Monday attended by a host of legal luminaries.