Sofronoff v ACT Integrity Commission

Daily wrap  

• Court throws out pro-Israel group’s bid to refer journalists and editors for contempt over Antoinette Lattouf case | Australian media | The Guardian
   

  • Lattouf v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Contempt) [2025] FCA 812
     

• Historic native title ruling gives traditional owners exclusive rights - ABC News

  The First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee in Victoria have been awarded native title status with exclusive rights, meaning other people will need their permission to access some designated areas.
   

  • First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee Native Title Claim Group v State of Victoria [2025] FCA 799
      

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Editor’s picks

• Livestream - NSD389/2025 Walter Sofronoff v ACT Integrity Commission - YouTube
   

• Qantas Airways Limited v Persons Unknown - NSW Caselaw

  [1] By proceedings commenced today in the Duty List, the plaintiff, Qantas Airways Limited, moves the Court to commence proceedings including for urgent interlocutory relief against persons unknown (the defendants). In the age of hackers and challenges to cybersecurity, the Court has become well familiar with this type of matter. There is no doubt that since the decision of Slattery J in HWL Ebsworth Lawyers v Persons Unknown (2024) 113 NSWLR 418; [2024] NSWSC 71 proceedings can be brought in this form.

  …

  [4] I disclosed to Qantas’ counsel that I am a person affected by this cybersecurity breach. I have been a member of the Qantas Club and a Qantas Frequent Flyer for more years than I care to remember. I have received a generic email from Qantas informing me that my data is caught up in what occurred.

   

• As a barrister, there was one question I desperately wanted to ask Erin Patterson [SMH paywall]

  Erin Patterson had 400 books in her home, and not one was devoted to mushrooms. But I desperately want to ask her about a different book.
   

  • Mushroom murders: inheritance lessons for every investor [The Australian paywall]

    The extraordinary case of Erin Patterson captures key aspects of how wealth is transferred between generations and how it could be done better.
     

• The Promise and the Peril of the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Litigation by Michael Legg, Vicki McNamara, Armin Alimardani :: SSRN

  Generative Artificial Intelligence (‘GenAI’) has been employed by lawyers and parties to litigation in courts and tribunals around the world. While GenAI holds out the promise of more accessible legal services, GenAI also creates risks, such as the production of non-existent or inaccurate case citations and statements of law. Both lawyers and self-represented litigants (SRLs) have failed to verify this ‘fake’ law and used the outputs in litigation. This article examines why lawyers and SRLs are prone to misuse GenAI in litigation, including by reference to aspects of human psychology, such as automation bias and verification drift. The article then explores possible solutions to address this misuse: education, certification, sanctions and/or prohibition. Attention to solutions is crucial if the justice system and its users are to reap the benefits of GenAI without the risk of a hallucinated body of precedent eroding public trust in legal processes and the courts.
   

• ‘Unprecedented’: Behind the email that blew up Minters [AFR paywall]

  Veteran lawyer Peter Bartlett lifts the lid on the saga that led to the exit of MinterEllison chief Annette Kimmitt.
   

• 2025 Forbes Lecture - Professor Kathy Bowrey 22.7.25(online) - The Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History - Tickets | TryBooking Australia

  The annual Forbes Lecture will be given on 22 July 2025 by Professor Kathy Bowrey of the Faculty of Law UNSW in Banco Court. Professor Bowrey’s title is “The Diva, her Lover and the Recording Company scheme to “get Melba”: Introducing Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), the business woman.”
   

• Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Sideris - NSW Caselaw

  [99] The Respondent’s conduct before, during and after the Tribunal’s two hearings has been the very antithesis of the professional courtesy that is required of legal practitioners, as reflected in r 4.1.2 of the Conduct Rules. To a large extent, the Respondent has made the case for his lack of current and continuing fitness to practice out of his own mouth as the sustained verbal barrage set out at length above makes apparent. It reveals a complete lack of understanding or appreciation of what is expected and required of a legal practitioner admitted to the Roll. It is not just that the language is consistently coarse but it also discloses a complete absence of respect for individuals, institutions and the Tribunal. The extreme lack of courtesy and understanding is matched by a wholesale absence of any self-discipline by the Respondent in his professional communications.
   

• What does Australian law have to say about sovereign citizens and ‘pseudolaw’?
   

• UK judge excused jury duty after case mix-up

  A senior judge has revealed he was excused from jury service, because he was due to preside over the case in question.
   

• Judges order 'robust' inquiry into MI5 false evidence – Jude Bunting KC acts for the BBC | Doughty Street Chambers
   

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