Robert Dick

McDonald’s has hit back at a class action over alleged unpaid work done by managers before and after shifts, saying it paid more than the minimum entitlements and is entitled to set off those payments against claims for compensation. 

A judge is planning to consolidate an employee class action and a union case against McDonald’s, saying the union can take a payout from any settlement, similar to how a funder receives a commission. 

Newly released emails show a prominent silk describing Brittany Higgins’ refusal to assist Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou as “at the least unwise”, amid a dispute over the TV presenter’s decision to hire her own legal team in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case. 

A judge has found that Lisa Wilkinson acted reasonably in ditching Network Ten’s legal team in a defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, noting the “distrust” between the presenter and her former employer as well as other matters, including a retainer Ten’s solicitors had with The Australian newspaper. 

The Project presenter Lisa Wilkinson has told a court that she begged Network Ten to admit its role in a controversial Logies speech for which she faced criticism in the media, as she pushes to have the network cover her costs in defamation proceedings brought by Bruce Lehrmann.

A senior lawyer at Network Ten has told the court she was not embarrassed by legal advice given to Lisa Wilkinson in relation to her controversial Logies speech and denied she was “utterly ill-equipped” to play a role in Wilkinson’s defence, amid a stoush between the network and the presenter over her legal bill in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case. 

Two firms have agreed to consolidate their class actions against online trading platform IG Markets over risky CFDs, but the company failed in a bid to have the two funders behind the cases liable for 100% of any security for costs order lest one funder defaults.

A judge has signed off on a bill that brings the total settlement administration costs in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit De Puy to over $13 million, amid a push by some judges to open the settlement administration gig up to competition.

A judge has told the law firm that has taken over a class action against Philips Electronics over recalled sleep apnea machines to take its time when amending the pleading, which he said was not the “finest piece of work” he’d ever seen.

The High Court has agreed to weigh in on how damages for reduction in value should be calculated under the Australian Consumer Law, granted competing special leave applications in a class action against Toyota over defective diesel filters.