Tag: Litigation
  • Criminal Law, Heidi Le Masurier

Barely Legal

For a variety of technological, societal and other reasons, many couples have embraced the use of assisted reproductive treatment (‘ART’) as an integral element in the child-birth process.  During the past five years alone, ART procedures conducted in Australia have increased by 10% on average.
  • Heidi Le Masurier

ART for life’s sake

For a variety of technological, societal and other reasons, many couples have embraced the use of assisted reproductive treatment (‘ART’) as an integral element in the child-birth process.  During the past five years alone, ART procedures conducted in Australia have increased by 10% on average.
  • Litigation, Navrinder Sathar

Right of Publicity

At present, there is no statute law in Australia that provides a right of publicity. However, that doesn’t mean one can invariably use the likeness or image of another without permission or compensation.
  • Civil Liability Law, Entertainment

No Bystanders

In his massively successful, triple-platinum 2018 album "Astroworld," American rapper Travis Scott  got the party started with the high-charged rap anthem, ‘NO BYSTANDERS.’ It was an up-tempo call-to-arms, full of rage and rebellion. As it turns out, it may also have been a little prophetic.
  • Criminal Law, Human Rights, Jonathan Nyst

Is The Best Defence Really A Good Tay-Tay Song?

In this day and age, virtually everyone has high quality audio-visual recording equipment right at their fingertips. Our ever-ready mobile phone can record and disseminate information worldwide with the click of one or two buttons. So it's perhaps no wonder so many get a little bit click-happy nowadays when they find themselves in the presence of the Thin Blue Line.
  • Brendan Nyst, Defamation, Litigation

Heroes and Villains

Some years ago I attended a breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel on the Gold Coast, at which the then highly-respected - and now much-maligned - Victoria Cross recipient, Ben Roberts-Smith, was the featured guest speaker. In his riveting address, Mr Roberts-Smith enthralled his audience with a detailed account of his service with the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan, including the extraordinary events that saw him bestowed Australia’s highest award for valour and devotion to duty in the theatre of war. As anyone who has heard the war hero’s harrowing tale of combat and courage under fire could tell you, it’s a hell of a yarn. And boy, did he tell it well.
  • Alex Somers, Politics, Social Media, Technology

Breaking The Internet

On 25 February 2021, the Federal Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Media Bargaining Code) Bill 2021, (“the Code”), a controversial new law requiring certain digital platforms to pay a negotiated fee to eligible Australian news media businesses for the use of their digital content. Whilst many have praised the Code for standing up to omnipotent tech companies in the noble pursuit of fair market practices, others, including the tech companies themselves, have accused Australia of trying to break the internet.
  • Brendan Nyst, Business, Commercial Law, Dispute Resolution, Wills and Estates

Adapt or Perish

Biologist, historian and futurist H G Wells, author of the sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds - a tale of alien invasion and annihilation by pathogen - once famously wrote “Adapt or perish, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” It could be very good advice in today’s troubled times.
  • Alex Somers, Criminal Law, International, Litigation

Trial By Fyre

A brand new Netflix documentary doing the rounds right now has sparked a maelstrom of controversy around the ethical and legal culpability of “social media influencers” in advertising and promoting business brands for profit. The disaster-doco “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” tells the sorry story of the exploits of Billy McFarland, the mastermind behind the failed 2017 “luxury music festival” FYRE.
  • Brendan Nyst, Dispute Resolution, Litigation

Big Bucks -v- The Dreaded Self-Litigant

Those more cynical than I have been sometimes known to quip that "Justice favours the well-heeled". It is undoubtedly true. Whilst money may not buy happiness, it can certainly deliver lots of lawyering, and in the cutthroat world of commercial litigation, he with the deepest pockets is often very likely to be at a distinct advantage. Of course, in the modern world, that's true of any competitive environment, from sport to industry to military conflict. The bigger the bucks, the bigger the bang.
  • Brendan Nyst, Dispute Resolution, Litigation

Winners And Losers

The thrill of the punt is not for everyone. It can be a tough game. To the victor goes the spoils, but to the rest only heartache. Litigation, like any gamble, needs a strong heart and deep pockets, and should always be proceeded by a careful cost/benefit calculation. Because not even the house, with all the odds stacked firmly in its favour, will always come up trumps.
  • Chris Nyst, Defamation, Dispute Resolution, International

Feud

Some court cases concern life and liberty, some are about money and manipulation, and others grubby politics and power. But in defamation cases everything’s at stake. Our reputation and good name is our most valued asset, because when all is said and done it’s all we have. Youth is transient, beauty skin-deep, and material riches illusory. Our physical strength and allure inevitably wane and fade like yesterday’s flowers, and affluence and influence desert us like a fickle, fatuous friend.