HWLE Lawyers

We are delighted to welcome Adam Rinaldi who joins our Real Estate & Projects group as a Partner. Adam has extensive experience advising on large-scale capital market transactions and strategic leasing matters across retail, office, childcare and industrial asset classes. He acts for a broad spectrum of clients including government agencies, fund managers, financial institutions, developers, international investors and listed and unlisted REITs. Read more about Adam’s appointment here: https://lnkd.in/g9h9WtGX

A couple of weeks ago, our Adelaide office held its annual 2025 HWLE'oween Quiz Night at The Gallery. Teams went head-to-head through rounds of tricky questions, surprise twists and plenty of spooky fun. With costumes ranging from clever to chaotic, the room was full of energy, creativity and a healthy dose of competition. Congratulations to our winners: Quiz Champions - You’ve Got a Claim in Me, Best Dressed Group - Shrekaholics, Best Dressed Individual - Grace Callen (as Bo Peep), and Best Team Name - Killable Hours. A huge thank you to everyone who came along and got into the spirit of the theme!

Victoria's new Access Regime is set to reshape the renewable energy and transmission industry by creating a community-focussed approach to project development. Developers will need robust strategies to ensure genuine and early engagement with communities in order to secure and maintain access to the state’s transmission network. In this article, Matthew Powell explores what the draft VicGrid guidelines mean for project developers' and how to prepare for the changes ahead. Click here to read more: https://lnkd.in/gjK9_v8n

Rachel Bannikoff, Sarah Romanous and Nathan Bowtell consider commonly overlooked boilerplate provisions, and why they matter. Click below to read more. If you would like advice on Commonwealth procurement, contact a member of our Government Corporate & Commercial team by clicking the link here: https://lnkd.in/g97huKwF/

Press start for fun! The Melbourne Social Club swapped deadlines for high scores and went full arcade mode to celebrate a year of social events. With the venue all to ourselves, the team unleashed their inner gamers, crushing space invasions, starting dance revolutions, and cashing hard earned tickets for those must-have prizes. Big thanks to everyone who joined the fun and made this night one for the leaderboard.

Ball is life 🏀 This past weekend, the Melbourne HWLE basketball team represented our firm with pride in the 2025 edition of the Australian Corporate Games. Despite a last-minute dropout from two star players, our ballers showed resilience and teamwork, battling it out among a strong cohort of 58 corporate teams, dunking and dribbling their way to 5 straight wins before losing to the eventual champions in the semi-final, and winning the bronze medal match to finish 3rd overall. Congrats to our team on an outstanding effort and a great improvement following their quarter final finish in 2023. We can't wait to support them in their challenge for the title next year. Bring on Corporate Games 2026!

HWLE has advised NSX Limited on its acquisition by the Canadian Securities Exchange, completed through a Court-approved Scheme of Arrangement which became effective on 15 October 2025. The HWLE team involved Partners Rowan McDonald, Anthony Seyfort, Neil Wallman, Annie Tseung, Special Counsel Michael Napoli, Senior Associate Caillan Massey, and Solicitors Yudi Vorchheimer, Aidan Grau, Jie Yu. Click here to read more: https://lnkd.in/g5CY-upx

Welcome to the November edition of the National Workplace Brief, providing an update on the latest in workplace and industrial relations law across Australia. The newsletter highlights important legal changes, policy updates, and emerging trends to help you stay informed and make confident decisions. In this issue we cover guidance on what constitutes serious misconduct, key reminders on unlawful wage deductions, new state-based developments in sexual harassment regulation, recent insights on managing flexible work arrangements, and South Australia’s introduction of Portable Long Service Leave for the community services sector. Explore these practical insights, and feel free to connect with our team if you have any questions or need assistance. Click here to read more: https://lnkd.in/ejheCQH9

Three cheers all round to our Perth social club who have kicked off the silly season early with a charity trivia night. Each team was put to the test, facing off in a battle of brain power for the ultimate bragging rights. Between the brain teasers and laughter, the night reminded us that giving back can be just as fun as it is meaningful. Kudos to the winning team who proved to be too good in the end, cinching the title of trivia champions. Thankfully not everyone went home empty handed, as a few lucky raffle winners walked away with some choice prizes, courtesy of our Perth Partners. Congratulations to all involved, and especially those who contributed to raising $2000 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, bringing joy and support to seriously ill kids and their families. We can't wait for next year!

In September 2025, Spotify filed a DMCA takedown notice against the open source project ReVanced, alleging its “Unlock Premium” patch infringes the copyright in Soptify's code. ReVanced has taken down the patch but maintains that it has not copied Spotify’s code, saying its tool only improved usability rather than unlocking full premium access. Jennifer Huby and Kirsten Schreuder explore how the case highlights the tension between open source innovation and the rights of copyright owners under the DMCA. Click here to read more: https://lnkd.in/gsJmQQup