Cindy Cameronne

Two US jury verdicts last week in cases over alleged harms caused to children by social media platforms have spurred plaintiff firms to weigh class actions in Australia.

The operator of the Urbanest student accommodation in Melbourne has sued Monash College for $22.2 million in damages, claiming the university breached a contract over unoccupied bed rent. 

The ex-CEO of Richard White's anti-money laundering software company Kyckr has accused the Wisetech chair of misleading and deceptive conduct, but a judge has told her to go back to the drawing board and replead her claims.

A judge has struck out claims against Google’s parent company Alphabet in a class action alleging the digital giant abused its dominance in digital advertising, finding they were "ambiguous". 

The WA Court of Appeal has upheld the dismissal of a defamation case after the plaintiff failed to issue a concerns noting before bringing proceedings, resolving a novel question about the application of NSW law in the state.

A judge has fined Queensland mining equipment company Qteq $5 million and chair Simon Ashton a record $1 million for attempting to engage in cartel conduct.

Former silk Norman O’Bryan has pleaded guilty in a criminal case over his role as senior counsel for the Banksia Securities class action.

A class action has failed to prove 3A Composites and Halifax Vogel misled consumers about allegedly flammable Alucobond cladding, with a judge finding developers and others were responsible for ensuring that it was safely used. 

The Fair Work Commission has proposed requiring litigants to disclose their use of generative artificial intelligence tools and to check that all details in documents are correct, or risk their case being dismissed.

The Minns government has fast-tracked 15 data centre projects worth $51.9 billion and promised to articulate the values that will guide future decision-making amid concerns about protecting national interests amid the data centre boom.