Cindy Cameronne

The owner of a major coal power station in Western Australia has lost its bid for an inquiry into alleged misconduct by the receivers of collapsed Griffin Coal after they tried to avoid obligations under coal supply agreements, with a judge saying the allegations were “relatively trivial”. 

The lead applicant in a class action against former Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiary Count Financial has settled individual claims in the case, which alleges the financial advisory firm charged fees for no service.

Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has yet to engage lawyers to pursue his appeal of a judge’s finding that he raped colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, but while he has the right to represent himself, experts have told Lawyerly it would be “very unwise” for him to run the case on his own.

Global insurance law firm Clyde & Co has shown six of its partners in Australia the door and will create a new salaried partner position to cope with high competition in insurance law, with the partnership having decreased by a third in the last 18 months.

A judge has warned two law firms competing to run a class action against IC Markets over risky contracts-for-difference that it will be held against them if they take a “holding position” on their funding proposals and attempt to negotiate their bids down later.

A former Ernst & Young partner has claimed privilege against exposure to penalty and is seeking orders to avoid filing a defence in proceedings by the Australian Taxation Office alleging he promoted tax exploitation schemes.

Mayfair 101’s James Mawhinney has defeated bankruptcy action by the owner of marketing firm 360 Degree Media, who claimed the founder of the beleaguered wealth management business owed him $3.5 million. 

Fortescue has brought legal action against start-up Element Zero and three former employees, alleging “industrial scale misuse” of the Western Australian mining company’s confidential information.

The co-owners of Pacific Werribee shopping centre in Victoria have largely won their bid for insurance documents as they weigh a second case against collapsed construction company, allegedly worth up to $335 million. 

A judge has excused cryptocurrency product provider Block Earner from paying a penalty in a case brought by ASIC, despite finding it provided a financial product without a licence, because it obtained legal advice and genuinely believed it was not breaching the law.