Fonterra has hit back at claims in a class action that the dairy giant misled farmers and breached its supply agreements when it slashed milk prices and sought a clawback in 2016, saying it warned farmers of the “extreme” volatility in the market.
The managing partner of a Brisbane-based law firm has failed to shut down a bid for compensation brought in disciplinary proceedings filed by the Legal Services Commissioner, which is seeking damages identical to those sought in a separate negligence case by a client.
Lawyers for the lead applicant in a stayed class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto over its weedkiller Roundup cannot access discovered documents in a separate class action against the agricultural giant in advance of mediation next year.
Advanta Seeds has been denied more time to pay renewal fees for its patent for a hybrid plant cell after correspondence from its lawyers about the renewal was sent to employees that had left the company and the patent renewal fell through the cracks during a 2016 systems upgrade.
Murray Goulburn’s former managing director Gary Helou and chief financial officer Brad Hingle have been disqualified from heading up companies after they were found to have breached the Corporations Act for their role in the milk supplier’s repeated failure to disclose an expected material decrease in the milk supplier’s earnings guidance for 2016.
The group providing funding to claimants in a class action against the federal government over its 2011 ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia does not have to comply with new rules requiring litigation funders to obtain an AFSL and operate as a managed investment scheme in order to sign up new group members.
The corporate regulator is pushing for a three-year director ban against former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou and a two-year disqualification order against the dairy cooperative’s former chief financial officer over misleading representations about farmgate milk prices five years ago.
The consumer watchdog has filed court proceedings against agricultural equipment supplier Agrison for allegedly misleading tractor purchasers about its warranties and after-sales services.
Australia’s leading livestock group cannot block US company Branhaven from amending its application for a bovine genome patent, which the group has worried could harm the Australian cattle industry’s ability to use genetic tests.
Fifty horse owners may face cross-examination regarding adverse effects allegedly caused by Zoetis’ Hendra virus vaccine, with the company warning a four-week hearing scheduled to begin in March may be insufficient to deal with the horse owners’ evidence.