Barristers

The ex-chair of former ANZ unit OnePath “has not been cooperating” in a class action alleging it breached its duties as a trustee of superannuation funds by slugging members with excessive fees to pay commissions to financial advisers, a court has heard. 

A judge has rejected arguments that Virgin Australia waived legal professional privilege over advice from Herbert Smith Freehills by claiming in a class action defence that it had a reasonable belief that statements in a prospectus for a $324 million capital raising were not misleading.

A medical imaging company has lost its negligence case alleging Malouf Solicitors failed to advise it that its defences in District Court proceedings were doomed to fail, with a judge finding the company’s executives were informed of the risks of defending the case.

An appeals court has questioned General Motors’ construction of its settlement with the applicant in a class action on behalf of Holden dealers, as the car maker seeks to overturn a ruling that put it on the hook for the applicant’s full costs.

A judge has rejected an application by a director of mining tech company Globaltech to replace administrators from McGrathNicol after arguing there was an appearance of bias since their fellow partners used to be on the board of its biggest unsecured creditor, Boart Longyear.

McDonald’s has raised concerns about a “skewed” sample of employees for the initial trial in a class action alleging the fast food giant denied shift managers compensation for pre- and post-shift work.

A judge has rejected a Sydney law firm’s bid for an adjournment in a costs dispute with a former client, saying the spat “cannot be permitted to continue”.

The CFO of former market darling Big Un, who has been charged with insider trading, has been excused from filing a defence or taking other procedural steps in the collapsed company’s case against its ex-directors. 

A human rights group is continuing its fight for the release of Australians held in a Syrian refugee camp, bringing its case for a writ of habeas corpus to the High Court.

A New Zealand appeals court has ruled that common fund orders can be made in class actions, even at the early stages, departing from the High Court of Australia in finding the commercial viability of a proceeding enhances access to justice.