Christine Caulfield

Former silk Norman O’Bryan has avoided jail time after pleading guilty in a criminal case over his role in the scandal-ridden Banksia Securities class action.

As his brother delivers judgment in a high-profile case that will dominate the headlines on Thursday, once distinguished and in-demand silk Norman O'Bryan will be across the road in the County Court, facing sentencing for attempted fraud.

At the centre of Tuesday night's budget are tax reforms aimed at investment structures, negative gearing, and the capital gains perk that represent the biggest change to the taxation of Australian savings since 1999.

A lawsuit by construction company McMahon Services against South Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport over upgrades to two SeaLink ferry wharfs has been stayed, with a court finding the builder should be held to its contractual bargain.

A funder bankrolling proceedings over the compulsory acquisition of land for the Westconnex road project in Sydney has lost its bid to revive a lawsuit against the plaintiffs, with an appeals court saying it was a “classic example of abuse of process”.

A former Mastercard business development director has admitted at trial to lying to the payments giant's finance department about the risk of 7-Eleven routing transactions to EFTPOS to seal a deal.

Vehicle leasing company FleetPartners has reached an agreement to resolve a shareholder class action for $27 million.

Addressing for the first time the question of compensation for 'future acts' under the Native Title Act, a judge has ordered Fortescue Metals Group to pay $150 million to compensate the Yinjibarndi people for losses stemming from the mining company's Solomon Hub iron ore project.

The centrepiece of Tuesday night's budget are tax reforms aimed at capital gains, negative gearing and investment structures, with the Albanese government spruiking the changes as supporting new housing, while experts say the devil is in the detail.

A judge has approved amendments to a shareholder class action against iSignthis and auditor Grant Thornton, over the opposition of the fintech firm, which argued the changes would amount to an abuse of process.