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    AAT

    Law graduates are about to crack a salary record

    Top-tier graduates will earn more than $100,000 this year – in Sydney only – but law firms remain tight-lipped on pay rates despite moves towards transparency elsewhere.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Russell Mailler is one of two executives replacing the late Juan Martinez at HWL Ebsworth.

    HWL Ebsworth anoints ‘co-pilots’ to replace the late Juan Martinez

    Australia’s largest legal partnership, HWL Ebsworth, has new leaders who are hoping for “not such a combative relationship with the media”.

    • Michael Pelly
    MinterEllison CEO Virginia Briggs says rather than feel excluded by the firm’s AI program, some graduates are excited to work with the technology.

    If AI can do the work of a grad lawyer, what does a grad lawyer do?

    As tech increasingly takes on the legal grunt work, MinterEllison is trying to rethink the work and skills of its young lawyers.

    • Hans van Leeuwen

    EY manager claims he was sacked for complaining about 80-hour week

    EY Australia has rejected claims by a manager he was sacked because he complained about being told to put in unreasonable hours.

    • Max Mason

    Judge chides critics who want to ‘regulate class actions out of existence’

    The newest member of the High Court, Justice Robert Beech-Jones, also gave qualified support to competition between courts.

    • Michael Pelly

    Data Trackers

    The final report by the parliamentary inquiry into audit quality has been tabled.

    Financial Review consulting salary guide 2022-23

    The full guide to how much you can earn at Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC.

    • Edmund Tadros
    PwC Australia chief executive Kevin Burrowes says the firm is committed to changing its culture.

    PwC seeks absolution but can it really change?

    The publication of two documents and a video apology for the tax leaks scandal this week was meant to be a circuit breaker. But it won’t be that easy.

    • Edmund Tadros

    Professional Moves

    Scyne Advisory’s Richard Gwilym will become managing partner once a permanent CEO is appointment.

    Scyne finalises appointments, KPMG partner heads to Star

    PwC spin-off Scyne Advisory has appointed a permanent managing partner and will finalise its CEO in the second half of this year.

    • Maxim Shanahan

    Energy focus as Ashurst, Allens, Freehills appoint new partners

    Energy and environment lawyers have led promotions at top-tier firms, as the legal industry targets the energy transition as the next big source of billings.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Former Scyne Advisory partner Connie Heaney outside the NSW Supreme Court last month.

    Scyne settles restraint case, as PwC tax partner jumps to KPMG

    Connie Heaney will be free to continue at Downer EDI under the settlement, while a senior PwC tax partner has jumped ship to KPMG.

    • Updated
    • Maxim Shanahan
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    This Month

    PwC Australia tax and legal service head Chris Morris (from left); advisory service co-heads, Ro Antao and Rob Silverwood; assurance head Sue Horlin

    PwC elevates tax and legal into its service line

    The new model will also bring together the firm’s deals and private advisory professionals and its consultants into a renamed “advisory” service.

    • Edmund Tadros
    ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn believes the PwC tax leaks scandal was caused by the firm’s incentives structure.

    Global push to get tax advisers to think ethically

    New rules have been agreed to help restore trust in a profession battered by wrongdoing, including the PwC tax leaks scandal.

    • Edmund Tadros

    Thomson Geer takes 4.9pc stake in ASX takeover target

    Law firm Thomson Geer has built a 4.9pc stake in ASX-listed Qantm Intellectual Property, currently the subject of a takeover tussle.

    • Maxim Shanahan

    Allen & Overy merger creates $5.3b firm in push for US clients

    Local managing partner Jason Denisenko says the new-look firm will occupy the same space in the market, but will increasingly take on US firms with Australian arms.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    University of Wollongong academic Andy Schmulow is no polite critic.

    PwC’s failed complaint over professor’s spicy LinkedIn posts

    Andy Schmulow’s more polite jibes included calling PwC “a cancer” on society, “thugs in suits”, and a “parasite”. PwC reckons it’s all beyond the pale.

    • Updated
    • Myriam Robin
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    PwC partners in Middle East accused of blocking first woman boss

    PwC is facing a backlash from its own staff after two women were passed over for the UK firm’s top job, as Middle Eastern partners grow in strength.

    • Updated
    • Adam Mawardi
    EY planned to separate its audit and consulting divisions globally but has dumped the proposal.

    Big four exam cheating under spotlight amid AI fears

    Academic integrity is in focus for professional regulators after a series of cheating scandals and the rise of artificial intelligence.

    • Adam Mawardi
    Law Council president Greg McIntyre cautioned against casting doubt about the purpose of law firms’ consulting outfits.

    Law Council ‘extremely concerned’ by ATO’s privilege allegations

    In response to comments by Jeremy Hirschhorn to the Senate, the Law Council warned against casting doubt over the purpose of law firms’ consulting arms.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    State governments should hand over to the federal government their powers to regulate partnerships of economic significance.

    Let ASIC police big four conflicts: Samuel

    Former ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel says the big four’s governance changes looked good on paper, but would not fundamentally change the culture of the firms.

    • Maxim Shanahan and Ronald Mizen
    An opaque and sprawling multidisciplinary partnership structure is common to the Big Four consulting firms.

    Big four’s reformation moment

    Engaging with the Treasury process is an opportunity for the consulting giants to help modernise the partnership-based model founded in the 19th century and unfit for today.

    • The AFR View
    For the big four, one of the big issues of 2022 was finding and keeping staff.

    The 24 questions Treasury has about the big four consulting firms

    The 16 “potential issues” raised by Treasury and the 24 questions it would like responses to about the structure of the firms and the wider sector.

    • Edmund Tadros
    The inquiry particularly focused on the audit quality and operations of the big four consulting firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

    Treasury questions the very nature of the big four consulting firms

    Get ready for war as they fight back against suggestions they are too big, incapable of governing themselves and have compromised auditing roles.

    • Edmund Tadros
    The NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner has been accused of failing to “ive up to their own standards”.

    One word reshaped legal watchdog’s public complaint guidance

    The NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner changed its wording on disciplinary complaints from “must” to “may” investigate after being contacted by a female lawyer.

    • Max Mason
    The pay disparity between lawyers with equivalent levels of experience is greatest among senior lawyers.

    Legal grad pay tops $110k, but wage gap still stubborn

    The gender pay gap in the legal industry remains “stubbornly and consistently high”, a survey has found.

    • Updated
    • Maxim Shanahan

    April

    KPMG increased its borrowings by $296 million over the past two financial years.

    KPMG increases working capital borrowings by almost $300m

    KPMG increased its borrowings by almost $300 million over the past two financial years but booked revenue growth of more than $500 million.

    • Maxim Shanahan
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    Scyne Advisory’s Richard Gwilym will become managing partner once a permanent CEO is appointment.

    Scyne finalises appointments, KPMG partner heads to Star

    PwC spin-off Scyne Advisory has appointed a permanent managing partner and will finalise its CEO in the second half of this year.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Bob Sternfels was accused of lying to Congress in a lawsuit filed last week.

    McKinsey uses Chumbawamba to boost morale

    The firm sought to rally partners at a meeting, but has been hit by news of a criminal investigation and lawsuit from a former senior partner in the past week.

    • Ambereen Choudhury and Amy Bainbridge
    PwC is slashing its staffing levels again.

    PwC set to become smallest big four firm

    PwC has lost more than 200 partners in less than a year, with the once-ascendant firm expected to fall behind KPMG on partnership size and revenue.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    A statue holds the scales of justice outside a Queensland court.

    Legal watchdog accused of quashing sexual assault claim

    A lawyer who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a high-profile Sydney solicitor has accused the industry watchdog of blocking a full investigation.

    • Max Mason

    Tax Office warns law firms over consulting push

    ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said he was worried law firms would repeat the mistakes of the big four professional services firms with their push into consulting.

    • Maxim Shanahan