Lawyers pursuing a class action against Scenic Tours on behalf of passengers whose European cruises were interrupted by severe flooding have been granted preliminary discovery as they weigh a second multi-million dollar class action against the company over cancellations caused by last year’s severe drought conditions.
A judge has given Sydney businessman Charif Kazal a third and final opportunity to replead his “simply incomprehensible” case against Gilbert + Tobin over the law firm’s involvement in a business dispute concerning a lucrative waste facility, despite saying it took “an entire week to understand the arcane obscurities” of the pleading.
A class action alleging travel agency Scenic Tours owes damages to European cruise passengers forced to take buses when heavy rain flooded waterways is still proceeding despite an impending High Court appeal, with the tour company now seeking to argue in an amended defence that class members could not reasonably rely on it to control water levels.
The Kingdom of Spain is contesting attempts to enforce two arbitration awards worth $392 million in the Federal Court, claiming sovereign immunity as it attempts to shut the proceedings down.