Barristers

A class action by investors in a Melbourne apartment develpment has resolved for $2.6 million, but the law firm bringing the case will take a haircut on its fees after group members ignored calls to contribute to the costs.

The owners corporation suing Parkview Construction over alleged combustible cladding at the Australia Towers in Sydney Olympic Park is “hopeful” of a settlement being reached, a court has heard on the eve of trial.

Liquidators of collapsed Forge Group are close to settling their insider trading case against engineering and construction company Clough and former directors, a court has heard on what was to be the first day of trial.

An email to lawyers at Clifford Chance relied on to show investor Fiona Lock’s understanding of a contested $150 million profit sharing deal with trading platform Pepperstone did not open the door to further correspondence.

Former Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto has been hit with a bankruptcy notice after failing to pay $2.3 million in costs in MP Moira Deeming’s defamation suit over statements implying she had links to neo-Nazis. 

Insurance Australia Limited and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia have denied a class action's claims that they misled insurance customers about loyalty discounts by calculating their premiums using an algorithm designed to maximise renewals. 

Developer Castle Group can move ahead with its purchase of a block of land in south west Sydney, with a court finding that purchasers of off-the-plan lots have no present interest that can defeat Castle’s right. 

Although Meriton's contractor prevailed in a cladding spat over Brisbane's Infinity Tower, the owners corporation's arguments were not at all stages "without merit", a QCAT member has said in declining to award the builder its costs.

Penalty proceedings in ASIC's case against coal producer TerraCom have been put on ice until the regulator’s suit against the company’s directors goes to trial. 

ASIC has succeeded in overturning a decision that found that Qoin issuer BPS Financial came within the authorised representative exemption with respect to agreements with Australian financial services licence holder PNI.