There has been so much talk about blockchain and distributed ledger technology recently especially in financial services that you might be forgiven for thinking it might be more hype than substance But we think it could be very important technology ...

A recent decision of the English High Court may pave the way for the use of predictive coding in large scale discovery and regulatory investigations in Australia Partners Nick Rudge and Duncan Travis Managing Associate Kate Austin and Associate Emily Giblin look at the benefits and risks of the new ...

The Federal Government has proposed new legislation that introduces two new criminal offences for false accounting into the Commonwealth Criminal Code The proposed false accounting offences are designed to help Australia comply with the OECDs Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public ...

The release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement has renewed the debate about the ability of foreign investors to sue governments under investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms which are commonly part of international trade agreements or investment treaties between States ...

There were three announcements this week that will serve to bolster the emerging Australian FinTech sector The Government released a statement in support of FinTech as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda while ASIC issued two sets of guidance an information sheet for providers of ...

Significant amendments to laws governing retail shop leases in Queensland will be made under new legislation just introduced into the Queensland Parliament Landlords should carefully review the Bill so they can be prepared for the new regime once it commences Partner John Beckinsale and Special ...

The High Court of Australia has decided that a third party claimant can join an insolvent or potentially insolvent defendants insurer to proceedings to seek a declaration that the insurer is liable to indemnify the defendant Partner Andrew Maher and Lawyer Shelley Drenth discuss the decision and its ...

In a recent decision of the Victorian Supreme Court a Melbourne municipal council was held liable to compensate a landowner for the costs that were incurred by the landowner in the course of complying with a clean-up notice issued under the Environment Protection Act 1970 Vic despite the pollution ...

In this issue we look at the Fair Work Ombudsmans decision to prosecute a sham contracting offence even after the employer had rectified the underpayments the enforceability of post-employment restraint of trade clauses how a new ABCC will look like after its journey through the Senate and the ...

The Victorian Supreme Court has ruled that a property development agreement is not subject to duty in Victoria unless it relates to all of the landholdings of a landholder The decision which is the first to test the extent to which property development agreements are subject to duty in Victoria ...