A judge has awarded $43 million to National Australia Bank in its lawsuit against former directors of failed retailer Dick Smith, but threw out claims against company directors brought by HSBC and the retailer’s receivers.
A judge has criticised agricultural giant Monsanto for its “highly unsatisfactory” conduct in ignoring court orders in a class action over its allegedly cancer-causing Roundup pesticides.
The judge overseeing a class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto has suggested a hearing by the end of the year on the cancer risks of the company’s Roundup products, saying judgment on that question would either encourage the proceedings to settle or end the case.
A judge overseeing a class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto over its allegedly carcinogenic weedkiller, Roundup, has declined to rule on the admissibility of expert evidence in a hearing ahead of trial next year, despite concerns about the independence of the expert witnesses for the class.
A fight over whether a class action applicant must fork over security for costs is not a matter of the strength of the case, says a judge presiding over a class action brought by superannuation holders against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and subsidiaries Colonial First State and Avanteos.
Lawyers for the lead applicant in a stayed class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto over its weedkiller Roundup cannot access discovered documents in a separate class action against the agricultural giant in advance of mediation next year.
Former solicitor general Justin Gleeson SC has been appointed contradictor in GetSwift’s battle to have the judge overseeing a shareholder class action disqualify himself from the proceedings after overseeing the trial in ASIC’s case against the logistics provider.
ASIC’s case against GetSwift and its founders Joel Macdonald and Bane Hunter makes accusations against both directors but relies on alleged conduct by only Hunter, a lawyer for Macdonald has told a court on the last day of trial in the corporate regulator’s case.
GetSwift is keeping up its fight to have the judge overseeing a shareholder class action disqualify himself from the proceedings after overseeing the trial in the corporate regulator’s case against the logistics provider.
The judge overseeing a class action against GetSwift has refused to disqualify himself from the proceedings, rejecting claims that he could not be seen to approach the case with an “impartial mind” and taking a passing shot at the logistics company’s use of the Americanism “recuse” in its application.