Julian Webb

Important piece by @lookheron.bsky.social tracing how the steady neoliberalization of higher education has sowed fertile ground for its takeover by authoritarians

This is the judgment on the PPE/Medpro claim.

A cracking £122m win for the Government Legal Service

And is wonderful to see the government bringing a claim in contract against a shoddy supplier.

This does not happen often, and it should happen far more.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

Trial Separation: Courtroom Lawyers Are Breaking Up With Big Law Top litigators are leaving elite firms to start boutique firms, a trend that is accelerating in the Trump era.

"Trial Separation: Courtroom Lawyers Are Breaking Up With Big Law," a very interesting WSJ story on prominent biglaw litigation partners starting boutique firms. Gift link:
www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Looking forward to discussing Legora over dinner this week with my MLS colleague Jeannie Paterson, Minter Ellison's Jack Stoneman and Legora's Heather Paterson

Screenshot of a quote pull from Baker Mckenzie. “Leveraging Al will hopefully create a 1 + 1 = 3 equation - where technology helps us deliver legal services in smarter, more effective ways. But getting there will mean adjusting how we structure legal work in a more complex world. BEN ALLGROVE Chief Innovation Officer” On the right is a picture of Ben. He is a white, middle-aged man withe close-cropped blond hair. He wears black wire-framed glasses, a teal close-check open neck shirt and a broad smile. His headshot is in front of a dark panel with lines of graduated colour that are mean to evoke technology

I don’t think Ben realises how funny this quote is

Rapoport on Law Firm Responses to Targeting by Executive Order, buff.ly/2Pw8AmC -Nancy B. Rapoport (University of Nevada, William S. Boyd School of Law) has posted Scrappy or Strategic? Law Firm Decision-Making in Light of Executive Orders (Vol 13, Emory Corp. Gov. & Account. Rev. (2026)) on SSRN.

YouTube video by SIX News Australia ACT makes housing a human right in Australian-first move

NEW: The ACT Legislative Assembly has today moved to enshrine access to adequate housing as a human right, in an Australian-first decision that passed with bipartisan support

WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP4-...

Meanjin absolutely must be surrendered and allowed to survive.

Embattled ANU vice chancellor resigns amid staff fury The university’s chancellor, Julie Bishop, announced the move in a short statement posted to the institution’s website on Thursday.

A start, but so much damage seems to have already been done.... www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Fascinating ruling about a couple who 'gifted' their third child to the wife's childless sister. "It will surprise no one reading this that within a very short space of time the decision began to create distortions in the fabric of the families lives". Judge asked to rule on adoption zurl.co/s6KQ7

Rally to save Meanjin magazine
Thursday 11 Sept 9am
715 Swanston St Carlton

A number of Australian writers, editors and academics will speak in support of this vital cultural institution

another day, another judgment featuring an AI fuck up. This time: ChatGPT gave someone bad advice, but also told them to speak to a lawyer or union. Naturally, the user didn't and just turned in excerpts from their conversation with the bot.

Academic authors, here's a peek into the black box of journal publishing from an journal editor if you can bear it:

MI5? ASIS? CIA? 😉

Since surely we are taking an evidence-based approach to assessing AI’s value, and in light of last week’s MIT study showing similar results for businesses, we will now be halting the ‘put AI into everything everywhere always’ campaign?

*listens in earpiece* oh no

Putting gas companies in charge leaves communities unprepared This week, 10 small towns around regional Victoria, including Swan Hill, Lakes Entrance and Marong, received the news that their gas company, Solstice Energy, would be cutting them off some time next ...

"Regional Victoria is the canary in the coalmine here. As soon as it becomes unprofitable gas companies cut and run...this will keep happening"

During a death spiral, people get hurt - and gas companies want to make sure it isn't them. Great piece by @envirovic.bsky.social -->>>

Lawyer caught using AI-generated false citations in court case penalised in Australian first Victorian solicitor stripped of his ability to practise as a principal lawyer after acknowledging he did not verify case list

First disciplinary sanction in Australia for lawyer misusing AI: "The lawyer will undertake supervised legal practice for a period of two years, with the lawyer and his supervisor reporting to the board on a quarterly basis in that time." www.theguardian.com/law/2025/sep...

Wow

Shooting at Porepunkah the day after the gun lobby beats its chest and day the Minns government supports the gun lobby's party's bill. Nice timing.

Disciplined solicitor says misconduct was ‘commendable’ A Queensland solicitor punished for representing a man just moments before she appeared as the defendant in her own criminal proceedings said the misconduct should have been seen as commendable.

So here's a #legalethics gem, should you appear pro bono for a client while waiting on the same court to hear drug-driving charges brought against you?! Unsurprisingly QCAT says no, but impressive chutzpah from the lawyer for arguing this: www.lawyersweekly.com.au/sme-law/4283...

'Revolving door' between politics and lobbying rings transparency alarm bell Lobbying has become big business, with around 727 lobbyists registered in the national capital, more than three times the number of elected officials sitting in parliament.

This is how broken our lobbying laws are.

Every resources minister since 2001 went on to work for fossil fuel companies & 8 ex-ministers & senior advisers now lobby for gambling💰

It's time for complete reform of lobbying rules + independent watchdog.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Big tech’s selective disclosure masks AI’s real climate impact Google claims to have disclosed new information proving its own efficiency. But it has hidden the bigger picture. Guess what: I’ve got the bigger picture for you right here in this big old po…

HEY friends: recently seen heaps of "disclosures" from AI companies of the energy cost per question you type into chatbots (most recently from Google)?

Presenting per-query 'efficiency' is part of big tech's efforts to hide its extremely real and happening-right-now climate impacts!

NEW POST -->>>

As a non-admitted person I'm not so ethically constrained, but I'll (reluctantly) limit myself to an observation on the apparent merits, as presented. In short it really was as poor as it looks.

Absolutely disgraceful and despicable. If you are a partner at Paul Weiss or Kirkland & Ellis you should be ashamed of yourself -- that is, if you had any shame left.

This is why I like evidence-based policy...

WA lawyer referred to regulator after preparing documents with AI-generated citations for nonexistent cases Judge warns of ‘inherent dangers’ of lawyers relying solely on AI amid growing number of fake citations or other errors

*sigh*: WA lawyer referred to regulator after preparing documents with AI-generated citations for nonexistent cases www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.

People working out AI slop is still just slop fortune.com/2025/08/18/m...

The irony(!) of using AI, which is itself a cause of environmental harm, for this role is clearly beyond their collective imagining

EV drivers set to pay road user charges as record number of electric cars selling in Australia PM says sustainable revenue for roads is needed as report shows nearly one in 10 new car sales are electric vehicles

I mean, if you’re worried about falling revenue, the govt could just stop giving away $10bn in fuel tax credits, which even the OECD says is just an industry subsidy that should be dumped.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Why the FWS case was wrongly decided by the UK Supreme Court - in light of the EU law historical context Claire Bradley , Legal Researcher Photo credit :  DAVID ILIFF. License:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Introduction ...

Was the UK Supreme Court judgment in FWS wrongly decided, in light of the historical EU law context?

Detailed analysis, by @clairebradley.bsky.social - eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-de...