In the first-ever settlement approval hearing involving a group costs order, a contradictor has argued that Slater & Gordon should have provided the court with more information on legal costs and internal rate of return as part of its bid for a $12.8 million contingency fee.
A law firm has reached a settlement with the lender of a property development in North Melbourne, paying $1 million to resolve claims it was negligent in preparing a loan agreement.
Hong Kong-based NGS Crypto Group and its director have lost their bid to undo receivership and freezing orders made amid concerns about dissipation of assets as ASIC investigates whether hundreds of Australians who sank $21.1 million into the crypto firm were misled about the safety of their investments.
A Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments has lost its opposition to telecommunications provider Zoom’s bid to register its name as a trade mark, with a delegate finding consumer confusion was unlikely given the difference in the companies’ products.
A judge has dismissed a class action alleging Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic but did not go so far as to say it definitively does not cause cancer, while also dressing down the lawyers for both sides for causing delays in the case.
Bruce Lehrmann has secured new representation for his appeal of his failed defamation case against Network Ten over its coverage of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, as he seeks to stay a $2 million costs order against him.
Characterising a settled lawsuit by a Westpac senior executive alleging employment breaches as a “private” matter, a judge has made broad confidentiality orders that bar public access to the case.
Lendlease, which is facing claims by a former Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills partner over its alleged “aggressive taxation position”, has failed in its bid for orders that evidence of the partner’s alleged loss be filed before mediation.
The judge considering a $272 million settlement in class actions against Uber will appoint a pair of contradictors to advise her on the hundreds of objections lobbed against the agreement.
ASIC has brought civil penalty proceedings against Chinese government-owned agri-business COFCO, alleging it manipulated the market for Eastern Australian wheat futures market contracts in 2022.