Hot topics

The return of the Industrial Court of New South Wales is reshaping how workplace disputes can be pursued, particularly for practitioners accustomed to operating solely in the federal jurisdiction. Barrister Adam Guy says the court’s expanded powers are already changing the strategy behind underpayment, workplace bullying and work health and safety matters.

Employers trying to keep workplace investigations legally privileged may face more obstacles than they expect, particularly once disciplinary processes begin.

Barrister Emma Bartley of Garfield Barwick Chambers says limitation periods in personal injury litigation are rarely straightforward, with courts increasingly focused on what plaintiffs knew, or ought to have known, about their injury and its cause.

In NSW workers compensation, lump sum claims can turn on deceptively technical questions: is the condition an injury, a disease, a consequential condition, or part of a wider impairment that can be aggregated?

Artificial intelligence is widening access to the Fair Work Commission, but it is also creating new pressure on a system already absorbing major workplace law reforms. Fair Work Commission Deputy President Alexandra Grayson told attendees at a UNSW EDGE webinar that the Commission is facing a rapid rise in individual claims, including unfair dismissal and general protections matters, while adapting its processes for a changing workplace relations landscape.

Separated couples may have more than one legal pathway for resolving property disputes, but choosing the wrong one can change the outcome dramatically. A UNSW Edge presentation examined how family law property settlements, section 66G applications and caveats operate when relationship breakdown and real property overlap.

Barrister at 13 Wentworth Chambers, mediator and expert determiner Sydney Jacobs has outlined how costs disputes increasingly become the real battleground in NCAT strata matters, particularly when proceedings settle before a final hearing. Drawing on recent cases and practical experience, he argued that lawyers must prepare for costs arguments from the outset, not after the merits have fallen away.

A damaged property does not always give a purchaser the right to walk away from a contract. In a recent session on damage and destruction before settlement, Massons Commercial Partner Alex Ho unpacked how NSW courts assess “substantial damage” and why the answer often turns on what the purchaser actually contracted to buy.

NSW property practitioners are facing growing compliance pressure as Revenue NSW assessments and requisitions become a sharper risk in stamp duty matters involving trusts, options, valuations and electronic lodgements.

The Honourable Justice Elisabeth Peden, Judge of the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of NSW, used her UNSW Edge Construction Law Intensive presentation to deliver a practical message to litigators: efficiency, preparation and reasonableness matter. In a list carrying heavy volume and significant commercial stakes, she said poor case management, unnecessary motions and overblown court materials waste time for clients and the court alike.

Brienna Anderson, a Barrister at 8 Garfield Barwick, has highlighted four 2025 decisions that cut across payment claims, insurance and defect disputes. Together, they show courts taking a practical view of how statutory rights, contractual rights and mitigation principles fit together.

Even the most complex construction projects are often undone by overlooked fundamentals in contract design, risk allocation and communication.

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act is often treated as a fast track to recovering money, but construction lawyer Karl Abboud argues its real force lies in how well parties understand and use its mechanisms. In a presentation for UNSW Law & Justice, he said the Act rewards precision, punishes delay and can quickly shift leverage in a dispute.

Strategic litigation is not always about winning a case, but about silencing dissent. In a UNSW Law & Justice webinar, Grata Fund Acting General Counsel Nicole D’Souza explained how Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, are used to intimidate critics and shape public debate

How junior lawyers can succeed early in their legal careers: insights from Suzanne Howari.