Barristers

A judge who eviscerated a prior bid by a law firm and funder to take home 60 per cent of a $5 million class action settlement with Tyro has allowed them to net half of the proceeds, questioning whether some of the costs amounted to a “complete breach” of legal professional duties.

Trial in a protracted class action against Deloitte over the collapse of construction group Hastie has been abandoned, signalling a settlement is in the works.

Crown Resorts has reached agreement with AUSTRAC to pay a $450 million penalty for the casino operator’s serious breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

Accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann has discontinued his case alleging News Corp and journalist Samantha Maiden defamed him with the publication of two articles on the alleged assault of Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.

The judge overseeing a class action against Qoin cryptocurrency issuer BPS Financial and several related companies has questioned the level of precision required of the pleadings, as the company fights the  applicant’s bid to amend its case for the fourth time.

A judge has urged the Fair Work Ombudsman to act quickly after it told the court it accidentally undervalued claimed underpayments in a case against the owner of Rebel Sport, the regulator’s first case against a holding company for alleged wrongdoing by its subsidiaries.

A judge has largely granted a bid by port operations provider Engage Marine to obtain copies of restricted documents in the ACCC’s case against TasPorts as it mounts its own case against the government-owned body, despite noting that principles of open justice don’t dictate an “open slather” approach to documents.

A Melbourne law firm has lost its appeal of a $184,000 judgment in favour of a former junior lawyer who earned hundreds of thousands of dollars per year under a lucrative pay structure.

Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys AM has failed to revive his defamation case against the ABC over a 7:30 segment that revealed racehorses were being killed in violation of industry rules, despite the appeals court noting that the report “treated him very shabbily” and “was not high quality journalism.”

Concert promoter Mark Filby has lost his case against former Nine unit TEG Live, alleging that it nabbed his idea when it partnered with Coles to promote a 2013 Australian tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction.