A Victoria Supreme Court judge has rejected a post-trial bid to keep details of the 2019 sale of Cargill’s malt business under wraps in a long-running case over Viterra’s $420 million sale of its Joe White business, finding the move would be contrary to the principles of open justice where no harm from disclosure had been demonstrated.
An unsecured creditor of collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group has partially succeeded on appeal of a judgment that ordered repayment of $2 million that Gunns had transferred in 2021 despite trading while insolvent.
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.
Creditors of LGL Commodities might have a right of action against solicitors for the company’s liquidators for failing to comply with court orders and omitting evidence in a case against a former director, a judge has ruled.
A judge has found the Commonwealth and Murray Darling Basin Authority are not “public authorities”, striking out large portions of their defence in a class action brought by farmers alleging negligent oversight of water management in the critical Australian river system.
Advanta Seeds has defeated a class action brought over contaminated seeds, with a court finding the Australian seed supplier did not owe a duty of care to irate farmers who allegedly suffered loss and damage from the decreased value of their sorghum crops sowed in the 2010/2011 summer season.
A lengthy dispute over insurance in a settled class action against sandalwood producer Quintis has been resolved, with the Federal Court rejecting a challenge by two insurers to the rectification of policies that could provide a further $11.25 million in recoveries to group members.
Insurer AIG Australia will have to pay collapsed diary processing firm Murray Goulburn at least $8.85 million after a court ruled it was liable to cover some of the costs of a $42 million class action settlement reached with irate investors last year.
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 has ruled the plaintiffs in the Gladstone Ports class action cannot reserve the legal costs of an application to avoid disclosure of expert reports, despite finding they had raised a novel issue.