Law Society Journal Australia

You can almost hear the pleas of discourse when The Invite starts with an Oscar Wilde axiom. “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry,” it reads across the screen, the silent whisper of a million internet sleuths trying to connect this film with the private life of its director. Wilde, who signed here her third picture, famously had her marital issues blown up and scrutinised in the public square during the press tour of her second picture, Don’t Worry Darling.

Across Australian jurisdictions, the last few years have seen a revolution in laws directed at hatred, including racial hatred. This has included the enactment of criminal offences for vilification and inciting hatred, the banning of symbols, slogans and gestures, and the prohibition of hate groups.

By - Jul 10, 2026 9:00 am AEST Danielle Captain-Webb has used the opportunities presented to her to inspire and help her First Nations community. As the Law Society of New South Wales launches its Indigenous Solicitor Foundation, she reflects on her career and how the profession is better with a fairer representation. Growing up, Danielle Captain-Webb didn’t consider becoming a lawyer.

A A A By - Jul 10, 2026 8:55 am AEST Snapshot Since 2020, the instinct has been to make force majeure clauses longer and more specific. That instinct is misplaced; a force majeure clause allocates risk and allocating the risk of an event is precisely what stops the doctrine of frustration applying to it. In return, the clause does little more than suspend performance, and often excludes payment, the one obligation a commercial dispute is ever really about.

A A A By - Jul 10, 2026 8:50 am AEST Snapshot From 1 July 2026, legal practices providing designated services under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 become reporting entities and are simultaneously brought under the Privacy Act 1988, regardless of annual turnover. The privacy obligations that arise are not a separate compliance project sitting alongside AML/CTF reform.

The blue Specialist Accreditation logo allows clients and the broader community to recognise and identify those who have been Accredited as Specialists in their area of practice. For others, it’s an opportunity to connect with other Accredited Specialists within their area of practice and across different areas. The annual Specialist Accreditation Conference provides a forum for Accredited Specialists to come together to network, share ideas and to keep on top of emerging issues or hot topics.

It is perhaps axiomatic that a dollar spent today on clear drafting is many dollars saved tomorrow. This is often true of dispute resolution clauses. These are often relegated to the miscellaneous provisions of a contract by transaction-focused lawyers, creating problems resolved only by litigation that may exceed the value of the claim, the contract or even the enterprise. Dnata v Polar Air and the agreement to agree This is not a problem confined to local or overworked practitioners.

A A A By - Jul 10, 2026 8:40 am AEST Snapshot Giving an estimate of total legal costs is not a courtesy but a statutory obligation, and courts now insist on strict, not substantial, compliance. Failure to give or update a reasonable estimate can unravel a costs agreement, lead to assessment, delay recovery and expose a practice to regulatory action or damages claims. In an era of heightened scrutiny, disciplined disclosure is a core element of professional risk management.

A A A By and - Jul 10, 2026 8:35 am AEST Snapshot The Law Society of New South Wales’ Professional Standards Scheme is intended to protect consumers of legal services by raising professional standards while also limiting participating solicitors’ liability for certain civil damages claims. To obtain the benefit of the scheme, solicitors must be participating members and maintain professional indemnity insurance at or above the applicable liability cap.

By - Jul 10, 2026 8:30 am AEST Snapshot Sustainability is now an embedded concept in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, with a broad and flexible definition of sustainability infrastructure. A sustainability purpose need not be dominant, making it easier to frame upgrades as sustainability infrastructure. Reduced voting thresholds and new governance requirements have made sustainability upgrades to common property easier to approve.