Barristers

Bruce Lehrmann will not call Brittany Higgins back to the witness box in his defamation trial against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilksinon to give evidence on a secret recording of a conversation between her fiancé and solicitor.

Honda Australia has been hit with a $6 million penalty for misleading communications made to customers of three dealerships during a restructuring in which the car maker’s shuttered its independent dealer network in favour of an agency model.

An investor class action against Virgin Australia has mounted a new challenge to a contentious indemnity clause, which the airline claims entitles it to receive periodic payments for its legal costs in defending the claims.

A judge overseeing the trial in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson has asked to see the legal advice Wilkinson received before giving her Logies acceptance speech last year, saying it was “inconceivable” any lawyer would have approved it.

A Melbourne law firm is facing a class action on behalf of former clients it represented in litigation over childhood sexual abuse claims.

The consumer watchdog has asked a court to impose a $15 million penalty against Airbnb in addition to a $15 million consumer redress scheme, in a case alleging the vacation rental giant misled Australian consumers by displaying prices in  US dollars. 

ANZ will appeal a ruling that it breached its continuous disclosure obligations when it failed to inform the ASX of a bailout by the underwriters of a 2015 institutional share placement.

The Full Federal Court has found that Telstra can be sued for a former employee’s alleged sexual harassment of his neighbours, finding  harassment that is part of a private dispute may also occur in the course of providing services.

Grocon has lost yet another argument over documents in its lawsuit against Infrastructure NSW over a stalled $2 billion Central Barangaroo development project, with a judge rejecting its bid to access material over which the government agency claimed privilege and public interest immunity. 

The lead plaintiff in a class action over Sydney’s light rail construction, who is seeking a $3 million judgment, has brought a novel bid for the NSW government to pay a funder’s 40 per cent commission as damages, rather than as a deduction from the amount owed to group members.