Events

The High Court has agreed to hear the appeals of two former Dick Smith exes following judgments that awarded a total of $55 million in damages to NAB and the receivers of the defunct electronics retailer.

A class action has been filed on behalf of 25 people whose loved ones died during a COVID-19 outbreak at the Newmarch House in Sydney.

Cruise operator Scenic Tours is stuck with a $10 million damages bill but has avoided paying for disappointed traveller’s flights, after an appeals court mostly rejected its appeal of an award to travellers who were promised a “once in a lifetime cruise along the grand waterways of Europe” but were instead forced to take the bus.

The state of Victoria is trying again to stay a class action over the 2020 hotel quarantine debacle in light of a pending criminal action against the Department of Health, telling an appeals court the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system must be protected.

Senior restructuring and insolvency lawyers have welcomed a novel ruling that found a liquidator was entitled to claim his costs ahead of the preferred claims of company employees, but questions remain about the “potentially difficult” interaction between two conflicting priority regimes.

A judge won’t stay a reference process which US company Fluor claims is infected with bias, in a “monumental” dispute with energy giant Santos that has already generated a $57.5 million legal bill for the engineering firm.

A sacked Myer executive has brought Fair Work proceedings against her former employer, seeking over $700,000 in compensation after she was allegedly unfairly dismissed for complaining about a general manager’s “belittling” conduct. 

A judge has approved a $50.45 million settlement in a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations. He has also approved a 13 per cent funding commission by way of a common fund order, saying debates about CFOs had become “lost in the label”.

In a novel decision, a judge has found that a liquidator is entitled to claim his “arguably disproportionate” costs ahead of the preferred claims of company employees.

Coffee brand Vittoria can’t transfer a case over the trade mark for rival Moccona’s instant coffee jar from one Federal Court registry to another, with a judge reminding the company that the court was “well into the 21st century” and could livestream hearings without the need for interstate travel.