A recent decision of the High Court could intensify uncertainty about the legitimacy of resolving civil penalty proceedings by the regulator and the defendant approaching the court with an agreed penalty supported by an agreed statement of facts Partner Matthew McLennan and Lawyer Megan Sandler ...

The Federal Government has announced that it will proceed with only one of the backlog of announced but unlegislated reforms to the taxation of charities and other not-for-profit entities proposed by previous governments Special Counsel Glenys Hodges and Lawyer Scott Lang report on the fate of the ...

A recent draft tax ruling may make it more difficult for employers to claim tax deductions for contributions made to employee remuneration trusts However the ruling is expected to have limited practical application to listed companies making non-refundable contributions to traditional employee share ...

The FCAFC has upheld an earlier decision rejecting an application to set aside or not enforce an international arbitral award. ...

It has been recognised for some time that the domestic corporate bond market constitutes a weak spot in the otherwise robust and deep Australian capital markets The less developed domestic bond market is a distinguishing feature among the leading financial systems and capital markets This was no ...

Record US penalties recently imposed on car manufacturers for failures to deal appropriately with safety defects are a timely reminder to Australian manufacturers of their product safety obligations Partner Belinda Thompson Senior Associate Jaime McKenzie and Lawyer Ishwar Singh report ...

In a recent decision the Victorian Court of Appeal has held that parties to an arbitration agreement cannot avoid arbitration by seeking to bring the claim in a statutory tribunal Partner Nick Rudge and Lawyer James Waters report on a case that reinforces the trend of Australian courts to give ...

Parties involved in large-scale commercial transactions with non-lawyer third-party advisers need to be aware that communications with these advisers will rarely be protected by legal professional privilege following a recent Federal Court decision ...

We look at the circumstances where a court may not grant an injunction to restrain an employee from working with a competitor the Fair Work Commissions position on legal representation a case that helps clarify when restructuring roles will create genuine redundancy whether a gift to employees who ...

Further amendments to existing property legislation that aims to streamline the sale of property particularly in respect of the sale of off-the-plan lots have been introduced into the Queensland Parliament These amendments will be of substantial benefit to developers Partner Alister Fitzgerald ...