Cindy Cameronne

A class action against BPS Financial may abandon some claims after a judge found in a separate case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that the Qoin cryptocurrency issuer made false and misleading claims about its product.

The chair of the Medibank board has given evidence that he engaged King & Wood Mallesons to commission expert reviews in the wake of a cyberattack, including three reports by Deloitte, after hearing rumours of class action investigations in October 2022. 

PricewaterhouseCoopers is facing a lawsuit by the executor of a deceased estate alleging the accounting firm gave negligent advice and acted with a conflict of interest while advising on tax liabilities for the deceased’s $100 million in assets.

The attorney-general of South Australia wants to intervene in a High Court appeal of a ruling that put Judge Salvatore Vasta on the hook for a man’s false imprisonment, saying the judge was not entitled to immunity but that police and correctional officers were.

An appeals court has found that a solicitor’s caveat over his bankrupt client’s property was valid, after the client agreed to mortgage his property as security for up to $100,000 in legal costs, saying it was the only binding costs agreement they had.

Qantas argues it has “no legal responsibility” to compensate baggage handlers who, the High Court has found, the airline unlawfully sacked and replaced with contractors, partly to prevent them from engaging in industrial action.

A funder that was bankrolling a class action against restaurant chain Fogo Brazilia alleging it misled franchisees about the profitability of its businesses has “pulled the pin” on the case, with the law firm running the proceeding agreeing to act on a no win, no fee basis. 

The Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court has expressed concerns about a “slide in public respect” for institutions such as the court and the creeping phenomenon of “truth decay”.

A decision awarding carriage to Gilbert + Tobin in a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate lacked procedural fairness, the Full Court has found, prompting the firm to team up with its competitor to run the case. 

An appeals court has dismissed an environmental advocacy group’s challenge to the extension of two Mach Energy and Whitehaven Coal mega coal mines in NSW, saying the current environmental laws are “ill-suited” to dealing with the global threat of climate change.