Two Australian companies have won their application for special leave to the High Court as they continue their fight to shut down a wrongful death case in the US brought by the families of 15 people killed in an aircraft crash near Lockhart River in northern Queensland in May 2005.
The High Court has done away with a rule that allowed self-represented lawyers to claim costs for legal proceedings, calling the exception an “affront to the fundamental value of equality of all persons before the law”.
AFT Pharmaceuticals has challenged a Federal Court decision that found its Maxisegic ads were misleading and deceptive, saying the judge “set the bar too high” by requiring it to prove there was an adequate scientific foundation for its painkiller representations.
Pitcher Partners has lost it challenge to a ruling socking it with a $5.6 million bill for an accounting error concealed from client Neville’s Bus Service, with an appeals court saying there was a “clear and principled basis” to require the accounting firm to pay the sum awarded for loss and damage to the transport company.
Actor Geoffrey Rush is pulling out all the stops in his bid to uphold his record $2.9 million defamation judgment against Daily Telegraph publisher Nationwide News, briefing a prominent Sydney barrister to lead his case against the appeal.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has largely prevailed on appeal to the High Court in its case against former directors of collapsed retirement village owner Prime Trust, including former federal health minister Michael Wooldridge.
A leading class action lawyer has defeated an attempt by the Law Society of NSW to revive professional misconduct proceedings against him.
A Federal Court judge has ordered Volkswagen to produce documents related to its calculations on how its emissions cheating scandal could affect car prices.
Volkswagen lost its bid Tuesday to exclude evidence from its own expert witness it claims has gone off script, an early blow to the car maker in the massive trial alleging it installed dual-mode software in diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests.