With a large number of lawyers now working from home amid the coronavirus crisis, law firms are getting creative, turning to virtual yoga, cocktail deliveries and more to maintain the health and well-being of their staff.
Equity partners at MinterEllison have agreed to cut their draws by 50 per cent and permanent staff have been asked to purchase six weeks’ leave as part of measures to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
Activist short seller Bonitas Research must pay Rural Funds Management almost $900,000 after the US-based Bonitas was found to have engaged in misleading or decpetive conduct in issuing a report describing the agricultural fund manager’s equity as “ultimately worthless”.
Redundancies will be a last resort for law firms dealing with a diminishing work pipeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they try to avoid the talent shortages they faced at the end of the global financial crisis, according to a leading legal recruiter.
The Kingdom of Spain is facing yet another Federal Court enforcement proceeding over its ill-fated renewable energy initiative, this time by a Luxembourg-based renewable investment firm seeking payment of a $75.1 million award granted by an international arbitration tribunal.
A judge has ordered that Joseph ‘Diamond Joe’ Gutnik’s Merlin Diamonds be wound up after the mining company’s provisional liquidators uncovered “serious contraventions” and a “serious failure of governance”.
The competition watchdog has signed off on the $16 billion acquisition of Carlton & United Breweries by Asahi after the Japanese beer giant offered to shed key beer and cider brands to seal the deal.
Barristers for the ACCC and online retailer Kogan have been asked to robe up at home as the previously in-person trial shifts to videochat in response to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Ashurst has brought on former Deloitte senior partner Philip Hardy to help launch its consulting arm to compete with the big four firms, and the law firm says Hardy’s experience will be an asset as it manages the challenges of COVID-19 on clients’ businesses.
The Chief Justice of the Federal Court says a system is needed to ensure parties don’t interrupt one another during virtual hearings, and noted the increase in online hearings brought on by the coronavirus may also free judges up to hear cases outside their registries.
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