In a first for the NSW Supreme Court, Judge Peter Garling last week found that the plaintiff in a class action does not need to have a claim against all defendants, a case that could make life much easier for plaintiff lawyers, says barrister Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz of Second Floor Wentworth Chambers.clas
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, facing cross-claims by credit ratings agency Fitch in a class action alleging it gaveĀ false or misleading double A and triple A ratings to synthetic CDOs backed by Sigma Financial, told investors Fitch’s withdrawal of Sigma’s credit rating prior to the collapse of theĀ $27 billion investment fundĀ was a “technical” issue, the bank has admitted.
Generic pharmaceutical firm Sandoz has won a temporary stay of a $26.3 million judgment in a patent case as it awaits a decision by the Commissioner of Patents regarding a licence to make a cheaper version of the bestselling antidepressant Lexapro.
The Chief Justice of the Federal Court wants four referees to weigh what’s expected to be voluminous expert evidence in three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over exposure to allegedly toxic foam used on a government military bases, saying with 60 class actions pending in the Federal Court, devoting a single judge to the case for months on end should be a “mechanism of last resort”.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants to add GetSwift’s former inhouse lawyer as a respondent in its enforcement action against the logistics company, as debate rages over whether a class action against the company should be postponed.
The Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions has told the Federal Court it will “very significantly” reduce the number of criminal charges laid against mobility equipment supplier Country Care Group as the landmark cartel case heads to trial in October.
The Australian chapter of biker group the Hells Angels has mostly come up short in its wide-ranging intellectual property lawsuit against online marketplace Redbubble. But the judge that heard the case may have opened the door for more IP lawsuits against the print-on-demand site by shooting down its claims that its not a seller but merely a platform for artists and consumers to engage.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission made global trading firm Select Vantage “vanish overnight” from the Australian market using slanderous statements based on a lack of evidence, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is facing claims by the lead applicants in two class actions against failed retail giant Dick Smith alleging its poor accounting practices contributed to the retailer’s collapse.
Fairfax Media is challenging a ruling ordering it to pay $280,000 in damages toĀ Chau Chak Wing for an allegedly defamatory article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald linking the wealthy Chinese-Australian businessman to an international bribery scandal.