Judgment

A Sydney barrister and solicitor have settled a dispute over a $320,000 bill initially estimated to cost $60,000 after an appeals court found two costs agreements were void and held that courts should take a “purposive approach” to the rules governing costs disclosure obligations. 

The NSW appeals court has clarified the operation of the Uniform Law in the state, finding that insurers offering professional indemnity insurance to legal practitioners must be approved by the state’s Attorney General.

Several insurers have won a dispute with two Melbourne businesses about whether an industrial special risks policy can cover losses suffered during COVID-19 lockdowns, with a judge finding the policy did not respond just because there were recorded cases in Melbourne. 

A environmental group has lost its challenge to the extension of the Mount Pleasant open cut coal mine in NSW operated by MACH Energy, with a judge finding the planning commission considered greenhouse emissions and did not merely pay “lip service” to the issue.

The patent office has rejected Visa’s application to patent a token system for securing customer data, finding the process did not address a technical problem or provide a technical solution.

The full Fair Work Commission has rejected a union’s challenge to a decision affirming Energy Australia’s practice not to make superannuation contributions on earnings for time off in lieu of overtime for shift workers.

HWL Ebsworth has won indemnity costs against a former client who alleged the firm gave negligent advice over property in Parramatta’s ‘Auto Alley’, with a court saying the client was the “author of the outcome about which it complains” by rejecting a $1.35 million settlement offer.

The former general manager of iProsperity has lost his challenge to the collapsed fund manager’s liquidators getting more time to investigate $18 million in payments he received, with the Full Court finding they were not wrong to prioritise investigations into $62.5 million in payments to Crown and The Star.

The Fair Work Commission has rejected a former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission employee’s unfair dismissal case, finding his argument that he resigned after the regulator repudiated his contract “disingenuous”.

An appeals court has rejected oOh!media’s claim that it was denied procedural fairness in a dispute with Transport for NSW, saying judges are not required to give a “running commentary” on oral submissions and that counsel must be “constantly alert” when appearing in court.