Businesses’ responsibilities to respect human rights — the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Human rights are something often thought to be the responsibility of national governments. Over the past few years, however, there is a growing awareness of the impact on and participation in human rights abuses by businesses. At the same time, focus is turning...
Nothing implied: Construction as a means of curbing excessive use of power in employment contracts
Volume 30 Issue 2 of the Australian Journal of Labour Law is now available online to subscribers. Lexis Advance ® | LNAU Lawyers regularly review their precedents to ensure that they preserve the power employers have over their employees. They do so knowing that...
5 technologies driving disruption in legal
Not since the days of King Hammurabi has the legal industry faced the magnitude of change it is facing today. Hammurabi was the first to actually codify and inscribe Babylonian law into stone, around 1760 BC. So the start of the legal industry – and a solicitor...
High Court shuts down ‘Chorley exception’ cost claims for barristers
In a major decision delivered on 4 September 2019, Bell Lawyers Pty Ltd v Pentelow [2019] HCA 29 , the High Court has ended the right of lawyers to claim costs when they are self-represented litigants, saying the special rule was "an anomaly and an affront to the...
Advising directors of companies in financial distress
With a flood of company insolvencies expected in 2021, lawyers will increasingly be asked to provide advice to directors of companies facing difficult decisions about the future of their businesses. We provide a checklist to assist with advising directors of companies...
Freedom of expression vs the employer's right to regulate employee behaviour: why the Folau case wasn't about religion
The question of how far an employer's right to regulate employee behaviour extends is one that is vexed for both employers and employees. This battle of rights: an employee's right to hold and express personal beliefs versus the right of an employer to set boundaries...
How to protect your IP without making a groundless or unjustified threat
One of the most common and effective means of a party acting to protect its intellectual property (IP) is by sending (or having a lawyer send) a letter of demand, with such letters forming a key part of the day-to-day practice of many IP lawyers. However, these...
Identifying workplace bullying as a result of COVID-19: Duties for employers
With the increase in employees now working from home full time, employers need to be aware of new and additional pressures on individuals that can be significant risk factors for workplace bullying. Even when working from home, employees are at risk of workplace...
Respect at work, safe workplaces remain far from reach for Australian employees
Amid headlines listing COVID numbers & quarantine mishandling incidents across the states, Australia attracted global attention earlier this year with stories emerging from Parliament that detailed sexual harassment, assault, inappropriate behaviour, bullying and...
A question of notice: employment contract’s implied term of reasonable notice versus the Fair Work Act’s notice provisions.
Courts have had to decide many cases in which a dismissed employee claims damages for breach of contract, the alleged breach being the failure to give the amount of notice that was implied into the contract (because there was no express term specifying the period...
Beware of unfair contract terms
Significant increases to competition and consumer law penalties have commenced and sweeping reforms to the unfair contract terms regime will follow in 12 months’ time. Get ready, the ACCC has just been given a much bigger stick! What do these changes mean for...
Building rapport during online dispute resolution: different, difficult, doable
The rapidly changing court protocols amidst the COVID-19 pandemic have posed tremendous challenges for barristers, solicitors and their clients. With dispute resolution and mediation via video technologies becoming a more typical way of resolving legal disputes...
Is Buy Now, Pay Later a Bubble That’s About to Burst?
BNPL (buy now, pay later) is an increasingly popular form of consumer credit in Australia, but is this a bubble that’s just waiting to burst? With new players, the threat of new regulation, and rising interest rates posing challenges, Fiona Thatcher unpacks the...
Key considerations when preparing an estimate of legal costs
This article sets out several key considerations for legal practitioners, barristers, and litigators when preparing a cost estimate, and addresses the following questions. Why is providing an estimate of legal costs important? How should you draft the costs...