Barristers

Victorian Liberal party leader John Pesutto’s credit will be at issue in defamation proceedings brought against him by expelled party member Moira Deeming, who alleges she was “piled upon” during a party meeting over an anti-trans rally she attended.

Trial in a five-year-old class action against Whitehaven Coal will proceed without further delay despite the plaintiff’s late bid to tender an expert report, with a judge finding no extraordinary reason to push off the hearing date any longer.

A class action against restaurant chain Fogo Brasilia and its law firm alleging franchisees were misled about the profitability of their businesses could be shut down, with the lead plaintiff unable to pay security for costs after the funder pulled out, a court has heard.

Former Melbourne Demons chairman Glen Bartlett has been given the green light to relaunch a defamation case against the AFL club’s president and other senior officials after discontinuing proceedings that were transferred from his home state of Western Australia to Victoria.

The liquidator of failed global financial services firm Babcock & Brown is seeking to permanently stay a shareholder suit it says is an abuse of process, nearly five years after three other cases against the liquidator were thrown out.

An appeals court has rejected oOh!media’s claim that it was denied procedural fairness in a dispute with Transport for NSW, saying judges are not required to give a “running commentary” on oral submissions and that counsel must be “constantly alert” when appearing in court.

General Motors has failed to overturn a decision that put it on the hook for the applicant’s full costs in a partial settlement in a class action on behalf of Holden dealers, with an appeals court finding GM could not “walk away” from the ordinary meaning of the phrase ‘the plaintiff’s costs of the proceedings’.

Retiring judge Richard Button has been farewelled by the NSW Supreme Court, praised for his distinguished career and “great sense of humour”.

A judge has granted a limited stay of an injunction against US sports merchandise Fanatics after AFL merchandise maker FanFirm won its case alleging the US company knew about its ‘Fanatics’ trade marks.

The crypto platform formerly known as Be Pay Australia has settled a trade mark infringement suit by BPay after court-ordered mediation, changing its name and paying $50,000 toward the legal costs of the bill payments giant.