Construction

Thomson Geer is set to nab four partners and 19 staff in a merger with boutique Perth-based firm Tottle Partners, expanding the national firm’s presence in Western Australia.

International fugitive Jean Nassif, who headed troubled property developer Toplace, has lost his bid to reinstate defamation proceedings against Harbour Radio and 2GB host Ray Hadley, with a judge saying there was no evidence he would return to Australia to prosecute the case. 

The ATO has lost its appeal of a tribunal decision in favour of Perth land developer Tina Bazzo, with the court rejecting its “all or nothing” approach to a key provision of the Taxation Administration Act.

A judge has granted the Victorian government’s bid to dismiss a class action over its decision to retire Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers, but allowed the applicant to recast his claim, despite protests from the state. 

The lead plaintiff in a four-year-old class action against Zurich Insurance over a defective New Zealand apartment block has said the case “has to get moving”, telling the court that property owners have not received payment since a $50 million judgment was awarded overseas in 2017.

Japanese company Hitachi has hit back at a lawsuit filed by the entity in charge of a $511 million waste-to-energy plant in Western Australia which accuses Acciona of withholding $38.6 million in bank guarantees, denying any joint liability with the Spanish infrastructure giant.

A judge hearing the Victorian government’s bid to knock out a class action over its decision to retire Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers has questioned the state’s submission that the decision had “no effect” on the rights of tenants.

A judge has expressed concern that a “bizarre” last-minute settlement in a long-running case against the CFMEU could damage the public perception of the FWO as a model litigant, saying it could appear that the ombudsman treated some perpetrators as “more equal” than others. 

A judge has found that a law firm failed in its duty to provide ongoing costs disclosures, in a fight over a legal bill that was double the size of the last estimate provided, rejecting an argument that the client should have understood the charges would climb.

A class action against Transport for NSW over the alleged fraudulent acquisition of land to construct the $16 billion Westconnex tunnel in Sydney has been put on ice until the funder and the lead plaintiff can resolve a potential dispute.