Move over Tony Negus and Robert French -- there are some movements on the Law Enforcers power list. ASIC head Greg Medcraft, who we listed as No. 4 on the Law Enforcers list, will need to shift up a notch or two.

Lawyers will talk expressionism cubism and possibly a few other things when Mallesons Stephen Jacques marks its official merger with Chinese law firm King & Wood at a private viewing of the Picasso exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW next week.

As per usual, sports stars, artists and scientists featured heavily on this year's Australia Day honours list. But lurking amongst the deserving do-gooders were some seriously powerful players.

It's hard to see the latest furore bringing down Pat O'Shane. She's faced complaints about her judgements before and survived them all. Here's a quick history of her greatest spits.

It's safe to assume left-wing legal eagles Michael Lavarch and Larissa Behrendt wouldn't have made it onto Andrew Bolt's Christmas card list.

No-one is more despised by Melbourne's property tycoons than Bill Oliver. In Victoria's $25 billion construction game, the stubbled Scotsman can shut down rogue building sites in a flash and, builders say, hold their projects to ransom.

Constitutional reform is in the headlines again. This time it's not the Republic, but how to recognise Indigenous Australians in our founding document.

There's one thing clear about Julia Gillard's cabinet reshuffle yesterday: Robert McClelland really, really didn't want to have to hand over his Attorney-General portfolio. But unfortunately for the low-key minister, his greatest achievements in the role didn't carry enough zest.

Everybody loves a bit of schadenfreude, so here we present seven of the most memorable power fails of 2011. Think names like Thomson, Forrest and Overland.