Sam Matthews

A judge has found that Lisa Wilkinson acted reasonably in ditching Network Ten’s legal team in a defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, noting the “distrust” between the presenter and her former employer as well as other matters, including a retainer Ten’s solicitors had with The Australian newspaper. 

The Project presenter Lisa Wilkinson has told a court that she begged Network Ten to admit its role in a controversial Logies speech for which she faced criticism in the media, as she pushes to have the network cover her costs in defamation proceedings brought by Bruce Lehrmann.

A senior lawyer at Network Ten has told the court she was not embarrassed by legal advice given to Lisa Wilkinson in relation to her controversial Logies speech and denied she was “utterly ill-equipped” to play a role in Wilkinson’s defence, amid a stoush between the network and the presenter over her legal bill in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case. 

Suncorp subsidiary AAI has asked a court to order soft class closure in a group proceeding over allegedly worthless insurance, saying it was “passing strange” that over 200,000 group members “don’t know they’re even group members” three years into the case. 

International Capital Markets may soon face a third class action, a court has heard, as the first two class actions to be filed against the Sydney-based online broker over risky contracts for difference mull consolidation. 

A judge has dismissed Aldi’s bid to have a class action alleging it underpaid Australian workers to the tune of $150 million summarily dismissed, saying the application was “not a suitable vehicle” to determine factual issues including whether a $17 million remediation nullifies the class action’s claims. 

Two marine freight companies have lost a fight with a local council which refused to allow it to unload 3,000 head of cattle at Apollo Bay in Victoria, with a judge finding they were “the architects of their own misfortune” for striking a deal with a beef company before securing permission to berth at the port. 

The NSW Supreme Court has welcomed its newest judge, who was praised by his peers as “universally popular” for his warm personality and among the best tax silks in the country.

A Melbourne orthopaedic clinic has lost its bid to register the name ‘Melbourne Bone and Joint Clinic’ as a trade mark, with a judge finding the phrase was just an ordinary combination of words. 

The Federal Court has welcomed two Victorian senior barristers to the bench, including a silk who assisted in the Royal Commission into Crown’s Melbourne casino.