Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network

In the wake of increased insolvencies across the market, particularly in sectors like construction, preferred creditors like legal service providers may see fees paid to them clawed back by liquidators. Here, we discuss the potential impacts on legal businesses and how best to safeguard your firm moving forward. In this episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by MA Legal senior associate Cristian Urdea to discuss the increased volume of insolvencies in the market, the flow-on effect of clawing back fees, why lawyers are preferred creditors, and the inherent risks with providing legal services to companies that may be at risk of insolvency. Urdea also delves into the potential consequences for firms that may be worried about their bottom line, the “growing general understanding” of the impact of liquidators looking to claw back fees, out-of-pocket disbursements to barristers, putting in place practical steps to safeguard one’s firm, ensuring debts are secured, and why firm owners need to better concern themselves with such financial security questions.

Danielle Snell and Robert McGirr, founders of the award-winning Elit Lawyers by McGirr and Snell, delve into the evolving landscape of self-promotion in the legal profession. They discuss the cultural stigma around marketing oneself, particularly in Australia versus global trends. The duo emphasizes the importance of adapting to modern promotional techniques, embracing digital platforms, and differentiating personal from professional branding. They also highlight creative strategies like podcasts for building thought leadership and fostering client relationships.

Australia’s “housing disaster” could soon turn catastrophic, says former Victorian Supreme Court justice Kevin Bell. To counter this, the nation needs not just legislative action but also a reframing of our collective mindset to view housing not as the Great Australian Dream but as a fundamental right. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes the Honourable Kevin Bell AO KC, former justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and patron of Tenants Victoria, to discuss his new book – Housing: The Great Australian Right – and why housing is no longer a dream for Australians but rather a “nightmare”, his upbringing in social housing and motivation to see an overhaul of our housing system, and why housing needs to be viewed as a right for all persons across the community. Bell also unpacks the four-pronged disaster currently facing Australia’s housing system, recalibrating the national mindset about housing as a right rather than an investment or commodity, what a national plan can and should look like and why legislation is needed instead of policy, our collective duty to view housing as a human right, and whether he is optimistic that Australia can avoid catastrophe. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

In the first six months of this year, plaintiff firms have investigated and pursued a “very broad base of claims”, and even though there has been a softening in filing rates for the year-to-date, it will be prudent to maintain a cautious outlook, one BigLaw partner says. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Allens partner and class actions co-lead Alex Tolliday about how and why he ended up practising in this space, why he finds the “detective work” so rewarding, the key takeaways from his firm’s recently released Class action risk: Interim update report, and what we can learn from the volume of filings seen in the last six months, and what it could mean for the back half of the year. Tolliday also reflects on there having been no shareholder proceedings filed so far this year, the volume of consumer proceedings being witnessed and a pending High Court judgment, how teams like his prepare for what might be coming in the market, whether we will see more cyber and data privacy proceedings being brought, ensuring clients are as prepared as possible for proceedings of any kind, whether ESG-slanted proceedings are being brought, what good leadership of a class action team looks like, and what excites him about working in this space moving forward. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

In recent years, there’s been a “huge” rise in the number of boutique practices in NSW alone, and such firms, more broadly, are becoming more and more specialised. These trends, together with increased demand from clients for competitive rates, have created a “perfect storm” in which small firms can flourish against the big end of town. In this episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Redenbach Legal principal Keith Redenbach to discuss the increase in specialisation and movement away from generalisation in smaller firms, the modernisation of law as a profession, economic jitters and how these impact upon small-firm owners. Redenbach also discusses the “perfect storm” creating opportunities for specialised, smaller law firms that can offer competitive rates relative to the big end of town, the challenges inherent with staying ahead of the curve, the questions firm owners need to ask themselves in the new financial year, playing offence and defence, understanding why specialisation is so critical moving forward, and why he is so excited about such market disruption. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

While not all allegations of bullying will meet the legal definition of such misconduct, Max Kimber SC reflects, the raising of those concerns will very likely be indicative of broader relationship issues within the workplace, which all employers would do well to address. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back barrister and mediator Max Kimber SC to discuss allegations of bullying in legal and non-legal workplaces, how such alleged misconduct may stem from relationship and communication failures on the part of the workplace, and why prevention and early intervention are so essential. Kimber also responds to whether there is an increase in allegations of bullying or related misconduct in recent years since the COVID-19 pandemic, what constitutes best practice in addressing relationship and communication failures, recognising the positive duties that businesses and team leaders have moving forward, shoring up the fundamentals of workplace culture, finding new ways to speak to one’s employer about necessary team cultural and environmental changes, the role of HR, and his optimism that the profession can move forward in the right ways. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

With the new financial year underway, lawyers looking to expand their property portfolios or get on the property ladder should do the “smart yards”, not rest on the laurels of increased borrowing capacity, and ensure they are getting the best deal for themselves in the current market. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Legal Home Loans director Andrew Johnson and director of sales Cullen Haynes to discuss the state of the “moveable feast” that is the Australian property market, why banks move their rates in line with the Reserve Bank, whether the start of the new financial year brings new opportunities for lawyers to be aware of, and what bankers might not be telling legal professionals about how best to get ahead. Johnson and Haynes also delve into the good news for lawyers who have been promoted in recent times and those who run their own practices, why asking the right questions is so critical, the need to be diligent and not rest on one’s laurels, practical steps that lawyers can and should take at this juncture, meaningfully making time to do a financial wellness check, having a personal board of directors for financial matters, considerations for high-net-worth lawyers, and why if you don’t ask, you don’t get. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

The new financial year offers business owners a chance to regroup, recalibrate, and determine what comes next. Award-winning sole practitioner Claire Styles says firm leaders must take a more holistic approach to such a process to ensure better outcomes not just professionally but also personally. In this episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back C Legal founder and principal Claire Styles, who last year won the Sole Practitioner category at the Women in Law Awards, about what it means to design one’s life as a firm owner, why this is so important for her, taking a more existential and holistic approach to such questions, and appreciating what it means to run a small business and have a personal life at the same time. Styles also delves into the growing number of small law firm owners taking the approach she espouses, the practical steps to take and questions to ask in redesigning a life and business approach that makes sense to an individual practitioner, and what she looks forward to in the new financial year. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

According to one employment law partner, the tone of certain disputes between employers and employees is shifting, with issues at the executive level being fought harder and businesses looking to be more aggressive about enforcing restraints. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Hamilton Locke partner Timothy Zahara about how and why he became an employment lawyer and why he finds it so interesting, how executive disputes are becoming harder to settle, how the mainstreaming of psychological risks and a broad sense of burnout is contributing to such disputes, the perfect storm of executives feeling burnt out and no oversight of their output, and the broader implications for businesses and firms in navigating such executive-level disputes. Zahara also delves into the evolving nature of post-employment restraints and how and why there is increased aggression in this space right now, the potential “chilling effect” of such restraints, whether businesses are watching the non-compete debate in the United States and acting accordingly, whether the newfound aggression is a result of post-pandemic environmental trends, what businesses can be doing moving forward to better protect their interests while not constraining employees, what constitutes good leadership moving forward, and what trends might be on the horizon. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

Mel Storey has been tasked with growing the presence of global tech firm Pax8 in the Asia-Pacific region. Here, she outlines her practical and strategic vision for achieving this goal, how other law department leaders can support broader business growth (geographic or otherwise), being both more and less human at the same time, and why corporate lawyers should remember to “eat an elephant one bite at a time”. In this episode of The Corporate Counsel Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Pax8 head of legal (APAC) Mel Storey to discuss her journey in law and why in-house life has been so stimulating for her, the mandate she has been given to grow Pax8’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, her goals for this new chapter of her corporate legal life, and her definition of a good in-house lawyer, and how she’ll look to apply that definition to what she is trying to achieve in her new role. Storey also details the practical steps she is planning to take to grow Pax8’s APAC presence, the questions to be asked of herself and the law department in achieving success, balancing the BAU against the forward-looking growth, incorporating a wellness strategy into the broader approach, the challenges she foresees on the horizon and how she plans to navigate these, and why it is so critical for in-house counsel tasked with business growth to “eat an elephant one bite at a time”. If you like this episode, show your support by  rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!