Knowledge

Reports last week about the hacking of the political think-tank Lowy Institute and of the question-and-answer website Quora were met with different responses by the affected parties. Reportedly, the Lowy Institute declined to comment, citing a policy of not doing so on security matters. 

The ACCC’s spotlight on businesses who make false or misleading representations to consumers about their rights under the Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”) continues with two more recent wins before the Courts. 

Following the implementation of the Safe Harbour protections introduced last September, new changes to the Corporations Act 2001 come into force on 1 July 2018, significantly limiting the ability of parties to rely on insolvency as a means to terminate a contract. 

The phrase “without prejudice” regularly appears in communications between parties in a dispute as it is often seen as a blanket protection against all things said, or admitted, to the other side. However, this phrase is easy to use incorrectly, leaving parties with the mistaken belief that their statements are protected by privilege. 

Cybersecurity, like money, is one of those things that become screamingly important when there is a lack of it. Compliance is widely recognised to be a critical component of cybersecurity. This article considers how an in-house counsel and other legal practitioners can support a corporate client in pursuit of better compliance in cybersecurity.

Legal costs are a legitimate business concern for any organisation particularly those involved in litigation. One only needs to recall the C7 litigation a decade ago to realise the enormity of legal costs incurred by mostly unwilling participants. 

Raising capital and accessing affordable finance is a key issue facing start-ups in Australia. There are relatively few early stage venture capital firms and financial institutions are often unwilling to invest in speculative or innovative ideas. 

In one of the largest shakeups of competition law in Australia, the controversial and highly anticipated ‘effects test’ for determining misuse of market power is set to come into operation in coming weeks. This follows the passing of wider reforms to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (“the Act”) in October.

Following the highly publicised Harper review into Australian competition law, the long awaited reforms to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (“the Act”) were passed in Parliament on 18 October 2017.

The ability of foreign exporters and local importers to compete in Australian markets will be further compromised if and when new anti-dumping “tilts” in favour of local producers become law.