Law firms have railed against proposed legislation to ensure group members receive 70 per cent of any recoveries from class actions, saying the reforms were designed to “cripple” group proceedings.
The a2 Milk Company has reached a settlement in its fight against New Zealand-based Open Country’s trade mark containing the jealously guarded ‘a2’, with the rival dairy supplier dropping its successful application to register the mark.
An appellate panel of the Fair Work Commission has upheld an aged care worker’s termination for refusing a flu vaccine, but a full-throttled dissent by one commissioner warns Australians against “a system of medical apartheid and segregation”.
The Federal Circuit Court is addressing concerns raised by numerous appellate judges with rulings by a judge on the bench that have been variously labelled “misguided”, “disjointed” and “regrettable”.
Victoria’s environment watchdog has been taken to court over its decision to renew the licences of the state’s three remaining coal power stations, a test case under the state’s Climate Change Act and the latest in a series of climate lawsuits.
A judge has refused a bid by accounting firms Pitcher Partners and EY to access share trading data of unregistered group members in a securities class action over advice to Slater & Gordon, despite claims upcoming mediation will be “pointless” without the information.
BHP Billiton has resolved a case by an employee who claimed the company breached the Fair Work Act by sacking her for alleged social media harassment of a co-worker who failed to self isolate after an interstate trip at the start of the first COVID-19 wave.
Despite claims the $98 million settlement did not warrant a contradictor’s scrutiny, a judge has appointed a contradictor to represent the interests of group members in franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven as he weighs the deal.
Investment firm Keybridge Capital has brought action in court seeking to set aside a statutory demand for $165,000 issued by its former law firm and calling for an assessment of over $600,000 in legal bills.
A ruling this week that rejected the first application for a group costs order in a class action because the applicants were better off with their existing no win, no fee arrangement was the right decision given the limits of the legislation, experts say.