Judgment

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought over a development in Melbourne’s north, citing “inordinate and inexcusable delay” on behalf of the collapsed developer and its builder, which replaced its solicitors seven times.

A judge has found that ANZ breached continuous disclosure rules by failing to disclose a $750 million bailout by underwriters Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and JP Morgan during its $2.5 billion equity capital raising in August 2015.

A court made valid orders for a Queensland solicitor to pay back $251,255 to the relative of a former client, an appeals court has found, saying that “exorbitant charging debases the reputation of the legal profession”.

A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the  government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.

The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement. 

A judge has declined a union’s bid to throw out an employee class action against McDonald’s after the Full Federal Court confirmed that employee class actions are not precluded by the Fair Work Act. 

A Federal Court judge’s endorsement of the novel idea of a ‘solicitors’ common fund order’ may reverse the trend of class action lawyers running to the Supreme Court of Victoria, where they can earn a contingency fee, to file their cases.

A judge has awarded carriage of a class action against Jaguar Land Rover over allegedly defective diesel filters to a law firm that won a similar case against another car maker, saying the firm’s experience was not a “neutral factor”.

Wealth manager Escala Partners has failed in its bid to restrain two senior financial advisors who defected to rival Crestone from working in wealth management and soliciting its clients.

A decision by federal environment minister Tanya Pibersek to greenlight the extension of two mega coal mines in NSW was “legally open” to her, a judge has ruled, despite acknowledging the “existential threat” of climate change.