Michael Sims

Dutch paint company AkzoNobel has lost a mid-trial bid to inspect instructions given by Allen & Overy to experts who tested its allegedly unsuitable protective coating used on pipework on the $45 billion Ichthys natural gas project. 

An appeals court has knocked back builder Hanssen’s attempt to dodge a decade-old dispute over repairs to one of its residential buildings on constitutional grounds, saying the Perth company’s argument would precipitate an “extraordinary” result if accepted.

A judge has left open the question of whether a line of authority relating to the materiality of information under the continuous disclosure regime could be relevant to a stoush between collapsed engineering firm Forge Group and Clough Group, saying the decisions may apply to cases alleging breaches of the insider trading provisions of the Corporations Act.

Equitable contribution by Western Power, Ventia and a property owner found jointly liable for the same loss resulting from the Parkerville bushfire in WA must be mathematically equal regardless of how the liability was apportioned, a judge has found.

Thiess has defeated a lawsuit by a rock supplier seeking $9.3 million in damages for alleged delays by the mining services giant in receiving materials for work on Chevron’s Wheatstone natural gas hub. 

Subcontractor Ventia Utility Services had lost its bid to recover $5.6 million in alleged overpayments to class action group members from co-defendant Western Power, after its liability was reduced on appeal in a representative proceeding over the 2014 Perth Hills bushfire.

Collapsed engineering firm Forge Group has defeated an appeal seeking to block its liquidators from bringing a case against engineering company Clough Limited for alleged insider trading during the 2013 sale of a $187 million stake in the company.

The High Court has unanimously dismissed Western Power’s challenge to a judgment which found the state-owned electricity supplier breached its duty of care to inspect power poles on private land and was partly liable for property damage from the 2014 Perth Hills bushfire.

The High Court will hear a challenge by Western Power to an appeals court judgment which found that the state-owned electricity supplier breached its duty of care to inspect power poles on private land and was partly liable for property damage from the 2014 Perth Hills bushfire.

Western Power is not entitled to palm off the legal costs of defending a class action after an appeals court found it was negligent in causing the January 2014 Perth Hills bushfire which destroyed 57 homes, a court has said.