Last-minute discovery of emails by the solicitor facing accusations of complicity in a fraudulent scheme by his father and the barristers leading a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities has been labelled a “professional disgrace” that has twice delayed his trial.
The judge overseeing a trial over alleged misconduct by lawyers behind the Banksia class action has blasted a bid by disgraced senior counsel Norman O’Bryan to file a notice of proportionate liability ahead of his turn in the witness stand, saying the notice flew in the face of the barrister’s decision to concede defeat in the case.
The Full Federal Court has upheld a ruling that the CFMEU was “knowingly concerned” in the refusal of union officers to produce entry permits at a Queensland building site, with the appeals court saying it was”difficult” to understand how the union was not an accessory to the contraventions of its employees.
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.
An appeals court has overturned a $435,000 win for solicitor Zagi Kozarov, a former prosecutor in the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions specialist sexual offences unit, in her case blaming her working conditions for her severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Telstra has lost an appeal in a case brought by Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane city councils over a planned upgrade of its payphone network across Australia, with an appeals court pointing to an “apparent paradox” in the telco’s claim it did not need planning permits to install its next generation digital phone booths.
Shareholders who lost a Federal Court trial in their class action against engineering company Worley are challenging the decision to dismiss the case.
An appeals court has shot down oil and gas giant Santos’ bid for expanded discovery against engineering company Fluor, finding that the application was “akin to a fishing expedition” that was based on “a shaky assumption” by lawyers from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
The Australian Taxation Office has been blocked from indirectly recouping GST lost in a major tax scam by allegedly crooked gold traders with the Full Federal Court finding a $208 million demand sent to a defunct gold refiner had incorrectly interpreted the GST Act.
Mining services company Thiess has lost its challenge to a class action ruling which found the company had underpaid workers for time spent on the bus travelling home from a Pilbara-based liquefied natural gas processing plant owned by Woodside Energy.