Barristers

The new federal corruption watchdog that commenced operating Friday will likely turn its sights first on the award of public grants, and is expected to face a “huge backlog” of referrals. 

A judge has cautioned two law firms running competing shareholder class actions over last October’s cyber attack on Medibank that they must keep their focus on the best interests of clients and group members, saying lawyers can lose sight of that duty when arguing for their case. 

A judge overseeing a shareholder class action against Insurance Australia Group says more evidence is needed to back the applicant’s bid for an order giving lawyers 30 per cent of any recoveries.

In the latest skirmish over documents in two class actions, Uber has mostly won a bid to shield almost 150 documents on the grounds of privilege, with a judge finding the misconduct exception that has previously bedevilled the rideshare giant did not apply.

A court has imposed a $40 million penalty on Insurance Australia Limited in a case by the corporate regulator alleging NRMA customers were not paid $60 million in promised loyalty discounts.

The NSW government and the former developer of a stalled $2 billion Central Barangaroo development project are headed for a discovery showdown in their $270 million stoush, with both sides fighting to protect what they say are privileged communications.

Australian banknote manufacturer CCL Secure has succeeded a second time in opposing a patent application by British rival De La Rue International for banknote security technology.

A self-managed superannuation fund has taken Slater & Gordon to court to block the the acquisition of its shares in the firm as part of the plaintiff firm’s takeover by private equity firm Allegro Funds, saying the 55 cents per share price is not fair and reasonable.

A judge has rejected TPG-owned Anew Climate’s bid for default judgment against an Australian company that allegedly impersonated a US carbon offset developer in order to unlawfully receive payments under a $1 billion deal, saying “it’s not hard” to make the application under the correct rule.

A judge has criticised HWL Ebsworth’s discovery efforts and ordered the law firm to try again in the firm’s dispute with a former partner claiming the company cut him out of a proposed ASX float in 2020.