Barristers

A judge has approved a $40 million settlement in a shareholder class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson, with almost half of the settlement to go towards a funder’s commission and legal fees. 

Unable to convince an appeals court that a common law right of appeal exists, disgraced former barrister Norman O’Bryan has failed in his challenge to findings of fraud in a judgment stemming from the Banksia class action saga.

Ord Minnett must pay years of wages and other entitlements to a wealth adviser who was only remunerated by commission payments, after a judge found he was covered by the finance industry award, in a decision that could reverberate throughout the industry. 

Westpac subsidiary RAMS has flagged a cross-claim against disgruntled franchisees who say their agreements were terminated without proper cause, citing possible breaches of the National Credit Act. 

The liquidator of a security firm that collapsed after being sued over Victoria’s hotel quarantine debacle has taken the firm’s former lawyers, Clyde & Co, to court.

A judge has raised concerns about bids to declass group proceedings over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the thousands of policyholders who registered for the class actions might reap more from the cases than making claims directly with their insurers.

Santos is seeking to wrangle further documents from the Environmental Defenders Office to support its bid for costs orders against the law firm, telling a court there must have been “glaring deficiencies” in the standard of its services in running its challenge to construction of a pipeline for the energy company’s $5.6 billion Barossa gas project.

A judge has thrown out a shareholder’s case against Slater & Gordon over the firm’s takeover by private equity firm Allegro, after finding the firm was not the proper target for the claims. 

Payday lenders Cigno and BSF Solutions have appealed a decision that found they provided credit without a licence, and rejected the claim that their loan model is analogous to buy now, pay later arrangements that don’t require a licence.

Lendlease has hit back at a lawsuit by a former Greenwoods & Freehills partner who alleged he was sacked for complaining about the company’s “aggressive taxation position”, claiming the partner reached out after he left the firm welcoming the chance to work with the company again.