Companies and government entities paid out less to settle class actions in 2023 than in the previous two years, with no mega settlements hitting their pocketbooks.
A judge has cut law firm Levitt Robinson’s costs in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, finding the solicitors were “seriously derelict” in serving their evidence on loss and ran up over $1 million in avoidable costs.
The NSW Court of Appeal has issued a judgment contradicting a finding from its Victorian counterpart, ruling that law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell can recover costs for work done by its own solicitors in a lawsuit against a former client in which the firm represented itself.
A Sydney concert promoter has lost his appeal against former Nine unit TEG Live, with an appeals court agreeing that his idea to promote a 2013 Australian tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction was not ‘unique’ enough to be confidential information.
A $27.5 million settlement reached in a class action over the alleged unlawful detention of 240 Indonesian children has won court approval, but the applicant’s legal costs remain subject to negotiations.
On the final day of trial in Bruce Lehmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, barrister for the former Liberal staffer told the court his colleague Brittany Higgins falsely accused him of rape to avoid being sacked.
A judge hearing the final day of Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson has expressed his doubt at the plausibility of the former Liberal staffer’s evidence that he was working on Question Time briefs at the time he allegedly raped Brittany Higgins.
Automotive electronics company Directed Electronics has won a $168.5 million award after a judge found its former manager and South Korean giant Hanhwa engaged in a “reprehensible” trade secrets theft.
Network Ten has argued that accused rapist Bruce Lerhmann’s evidence should be treated with “extreme suspicion” and rejected where it is not corroborated, as the judge overseeing Lehrmann’s defamation case against the broadcaster noted “real credit issues” with both Lehrmann and his accuser Brittany Higgins.
In a victory for Zurich Australia, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its first-ever civil penalty case alleging an insurer failed to act with utmost good faith during claims handling.