The year 2009 has certainly seen many changes and events affecting the legal profession -- we take a look at the major events of the year.

January

• Four of Australia's largest law firms made history with a combined submission before a Senate Committee hearing on proposed new legislation, the Personal Property Securities Bill.
• The Australia Day Honours role saw several members of the legal profession recognised for their contributions to the law, including Julian Burnside QC and The Hon Acting Justice Ronald Sackville QC.
• The Australian Law Reform Commission was briefed by Attorney-General Robert McClelland to commence a review of the Royal Commissions Act 1902.
• The Greens called on the Australian Government to initiate immediate legal action against Japanese whaling in Antarctica, following a report released by a group of Antarctic law and policy experts

February

• The Federal Government introduced a $42 billion economic stimulus package.
• The unemployment rate hit 5.2 per cent.
• The High Court of Australia announced it was expected to operate at a loss of about $1.3 million this year.
• The recommendations of a Federal Government inquiry into whistleblower law reform were released.
• A Robert Walters survey found that salaries were still on the increase in the Sydney legal market despite the economic downturn.

March

• Blake Dawson confirmed it had made 89 people redundant
• Clients of Storm Financial started lodging claims for damages over potential professional negligence
• The Attorney-General announced a national summit to examine options to prevent arson
• The Federal Magistrates Court announced it was likely to report a $5 million budget deficit for FY2008-09
• Bryan Pape launched a High Court challenge, claiming the Government had no authority to provide him with a $900 tax bonus

April

• The Council of Australian Governments reached an agreement for national regulation of the Australian legal profession
• IceTV emerged victorious against the Nine Network in a landmark High Court decision
• Allens Arthur Robinson launched a voluntary redundancy program
• Minneapolis-based international law firm Dorsey & Whitney cemented its Asia Pacific presence by launching a Sydney office

May

• Lawyers were warned that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) would pursue criminal charges over civil penalties for serious cartel conduct.
• DLA Phillips Fox confirmed that 20 lawyers and 26 support staff were made redundant.
• Tresscox Lawyers and Clayton Utz confirmed a number of redundancies across their firms.
• Minter Ellison confirmed redundancies.
• The South Australian Courts Administration Authority was ordered to cut 53 full-time jobs over the next three years

June

• Seven lawyers seeking alternatives to partnership took the option of being promoted to the newly created position of "executive counsel" at Freehills.
• The courts were given more power to curb "megalitigation" - as seen in cases such as the Bell liquidation and C7 - under new legislation introduced into Parliament by Attorney-General Robert McClelland.
• The $19.5 billion Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal collapsed.
• The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) proposed 65 reforms in a discussion paper into federal secrecy laws.

July

• Mallesons Stephen Jaques called for "expressions of interest" from staff for voluntary redundancies.
• Disgraced former Federal Court Justice Marcus Einfeld was officially struck off the roll of legal practitioners.
• Challenging economic conditions and a refocus of priorities were blamed as reasons behind the restructure of the Australian Lawyers Alliance head office.
• Allens Arthur Robinson confirmed that the final count for employees who took voluntary redundancies from the firm was 114.

August

• The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was successful in its first SMS spam case before the Federal Court.
• Fines and disqualifications were handed down to former James Hardie directors in the NSW Supreme Court, with Justice Ian Gzell declaring that former chairman Meredith Hellicar and former CEO Peter Macdonald be disqualified from directing companies for five and 15 years respectively.
• Legal crusader Erin Brockovich announced a partnership with Brisbane-based litigation law firm Shine Lawyers.

September

• Attorney-General Robert McClelland released the Strategic Framework for Access to Justice report - recommending that companies should be charged for protracted "mega-litigation", requiring law firms to use event-based billing for government matters, and alternative dispute resolutions.
• The Federal Government introduced new legislation compelling Telstra to voluntarily submit an enforceable undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to structurally separate.
• DLA Phillips Fox announced the appointment of Tony Holland as the new chief executive of the firm - to take effect from 15 February 2010.

October

• The Federal and Victorian Attorney-Generals reached an agreement to implement Australia's first dual Federal-State judge.
• A federal human rights act based on the dialogue model was recommended by the National Human Rights Committee.
• Judge John Goldring - a judge of the District Court of New South Wales, and one of few judges to make his way to the post through legal academic channels - died at age 66.
• ASIC forwarded a brief to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that criminal charges against Opes Prime directors be pursued.

November

• The Rudd Government released new freedom of information laws into Parliament, claiming they would improve government accountability.
• The Legal Profession Reform Taskforce relased two papers outlining proposals to combat "overcharging and exploitation" of consumers and supporting a proposal for a National Legal Services Ombudsman
• The attorneys-general of Australia NZ, the UK, Canada and the US made history by landing in London for the their first "Quintet" meeting
• Google announced that it had made legal opinions from US courts fully searchable and free online

December

• The Rudd Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was defeated in the Senate for the second time, following a leadership split in the Liberal Party which saw Tony Abbot winning the leadership.
• The world's leaders gathered at Copenhagen, Denmark, in a bid to create a binding agreement on emissions reductions.
• Former Mallesons lawyer Paul Fletcher took out Dr Brendan Nelson's former seat of Bradfield for the Liberals, while former Freehills lawyer Kelly O'Dwyer took out Peter Costello's seat of Higgins.

Related article >> 2009 IN REVIEW: Key trends in the legal profession