It seems as if the top-tier firms, represented by Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Minter Ellison, are finally standing up for themselves against the onslaught of the mid-tiers in the ALB Christmas Initiative

While most of the legal industry’s focus on events in Canberra have centred around the shenanigans of the Liberal Party and the voting down of the CPRS legislation in the Senate, a less publicised legislative push is likely to have a bigger impact on the Australian legal environment – to the point of establishing another onshore practice area for law firms

Taxation specialist Tim Sherman joined Baker & McKenzie from Mallesons Stephen Jaques this week, making him the fifth new partner to join Bakers’ Australian offices in 2009

Baker & McKenzie, Freehills and TransAsia Lawyers are advising Melbourne-based copper and gold producer Indophil on a A$545m approach for the company from China’s Zijin Mining Group

New Zealand law firms continue to dominate their Australian counterparts in the ALB Christmas Initiative having raised enough money to donate a donkey to impoverished communities, while Australian firms have barely raised enough to buy 10 chickens between them

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts and Chapman Tripp have helped bring together Rural Equities Limited (REL) and the New Zealand Rural Property Trust (NZRPT) to create the only publicly available portfolio of rural properties in the country

Firms are paying more attention to events unfolding in the Senate regarding the passage CPRS legislation than they are to the climate change talks in Copenhagen next week as a means of gauging work load for their environmental teams

Joe Ganim, one of the founders of Brisbane law firm HopgoodGanim, has announced his retirement from partnership at the firm

Lawyers in Australia and New Zealand are spreading the love by supporting ALB’s Christmas Initiative supporting World Vision and providing the world’s poorest communities with much needed help. However, this seems to be a task that’s easier for kiwi lawyers than Australians so far with Kensington Swan and Simpson Grierson currently topping the giving charts

Moray & Agnew has hired Julien Castaldi as special counsel in its Newcastle office in a move that is set to strengthen its commercial practice. Castaldi joins Moray & Agnew after an 11-year career as a barrister