Hearing arguments Tuesday on whether lawyers should be permitted to earn contingency fees in Federal Court class actions, judges on a Full Court bench appeared to lean in favour of allowing so-called solicitors’ common fund orders, rejecting claims they are “unjust”.
Seven Network has partially succeeded in appealing a decision that revoked its rights to the ‘7NOW’ trade mark for non-use, with the Full Court finding the broadcaster used the mark on its news promotion website.
While it was unfair for a judge to pick Gilbert + Tobin to run a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate, the judge was entitled to consider the law firm’s experience in a similar case against Toyota, an appeals court has said in its reasons.
The liquidators of collapsed engineering company Hastie Group have lost their bid to appeal a decision that knocked out half its $120 million case against Multiplex, Lendlease and numerous other builders.
A class action against Toyota alleging it installed diesel defeat devices in several models of its vehicles has lost a bid to access source code for the cars’ emissions control systems, with a judge finding it was not relevant to any current fact in issue.
Australia’s largest brick manufacturer Brickworks has accused a rival founded by billionaire Len Buckeridge of substantially lessening competition in Western Australia through a 2021 acquisition and engaging in predatory pricing that caused it to shut its doors in the state.
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.