Barristers

A class action against Transport for NSW over the alleged fraudulent acquisition of land to construct the $16 billion Westconnex tunnel in Sydney has been put on ice until the funder and the lead plaintiff can resolve a potential dispute. 

 Macquarie Bank has agreed to pay a $10 million fine in proceedings brought ASIC after the bank admitted that it failed to monitor third-party withdrawals, resulting in a financial adviser’s theft of $2.9 million.

A class action targeting Victoria Police over its use of capsicum spray against protesters has lost its bid to uncover confidential information about police crowd control tactics, after a judge found disclosure of the information could “endanger the public”.

A judge has rejected claims by basketball coach Shane Heal that the Sydney Flames used bullying complaints from several players as a ‘smoke screen’ to hide unlawful reasons for suspending him last year.

The corporate regulator is appealing a judgment that tossed its landmark action against Austo & General Insurance, saying the judge erred in construing an unclear and disproportionate term in the insurer’s house and contents policy.

A judge has shut down a case by Icon against Australia’s nuclear agency over the $27 million construction of a waste treatment plant at Lucas Heights, saying the dispute should be determined by an arbitrator despite the parties waiving pre-arbitration steps.

A judge has signed off on a $16 million settlement in a class action against Dixon Advisory, but the funder of a competing case that was stayed after losing a beauty parade has earned a fragment of the $1 million it sought from the resolution sum.

After a seven-year legal battle, a court has upheld the validity of Neurim Pharmaceutical’s patent for insomnia drug Circadin and ruled two generic drug companies infringed the intellectual property.

The High Court is set to weigh in on a challenge to a precedent-setting decision that found breaches of statutory duty under a provision of the Design and Building Practitioners Act are not apportionable, in a case with significant ramifications for the NSW construction industry.

The NSW Court of Appeal has said it has no power to exclude group members who do not sign up to a class action from participating in a settlement, upholding a controversial decision that the Full Federal Court said was “plainly wrong”.