Law Firm Fined Over Exploitative Work Conditions

A Melbourne-based law firm has been ordered to pay over $51,000 after forcing a junior lawyer to endure 24-hour shifts while also subjecting her to bizarre management practices. The court found that Erudite Legal breached workplace laws in a way that worsened the lawyer’s health and stripped her of basic autonomy, setting a new benchmark for what counts as “unreasonable work hours” under the Fair Work Act.

The case comes at a time when questions around working conditions are heating up across high-pressure industries. Legal work is often blamed for long, draining schedules, but this ruling stands out for just how extreme the demands were. Within just three weeks of starting, the junior lawyer was made to work up to 79 hours a week, including all-nighters in hotel rooms and disturbing team-building tactics like mandatory film viewings in the middle of the night.

Court documents revealed that the lawyer’s schedule included two separate 24-hour shifts, multiple nights sharing a bed with a colleague and lectures on philosophy and history from her manager during working hours. Unpaid labour was another major issue: she put in more than 225 hours but received only $1,000 during her time with the firm, which is far below minimum wage requirements. Meanwhile, missed payments further signalled a lack of accountability.

The ruling looks like a potential turning point for how extreme workloads are treated legally. With the law firm already deregistered and the lawyer unlikely to receive the compensation, the case nevertheless highlights the risks of unchecked labour practices. Broader implications are now emerging as unions and regulators begin testing where the limits lie in related sectors, including finance and media.

Source: Australian Financial Review, Fair Work Ombudsman, Russell Kennedy.