The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has dropped its claims of collusion against rail freight companies Pacific National and Aurizon, as the trial in its competition case wraps up this week.
A judge’s decision to halt questioning about ASIC emails in a class action trial over the 2008 collapse of finance group Octaviar didn’t shut the case down, the Public Trustee of Queensland has told the Full Federal Court, calling the appeal of the class action’s dismissal “completely misconceived”.
ASIC will soon have more ammunition to go after corporate wrongdoers, after the Senate passed legislation that arms the regulator to seek harsher civil and criminal sanctions against banks, their executives and others that breach the corporate and financial services law.
Motorola has accused rival Hytera Communications of a “deliberate strategy” of filing late affidavits to throw Motorola off in an already highly contentious patent and copyright case over digital radio devices.
US financial services giant State Street Global Advisers has brought legal action against Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, alleging the law firm’s plan to erect a copy of its Fearless Girl statue in Australia violates its trade mark and breaches consumer laws.
A product liability class action has been filed against the manufacturers of Alucobond PE cladding, the first of what’s expected to be several lawsuits over the combustible cladding, believed to be in the majority of buildings in Australia.
The Federal Government is proposing changes to right of entry rules that would require permits to be issued in photo ID format, in a bid to curb abuse by “militant” union officials.
Critical emails from ASIC regarding a $250 million loan facility to Octaviar Group before its 2008 collapse were not only overlooked by the Public Trustee of Queensland in its role overseeing the firm’s finances but were wrongly deemed irrelevant by the judge that heard the case, the Full Federal Court was told.
A judge overseeing a class action against the NSW government over a contractor who sold injured workers’ information to Bannister Law has questioned the effectiveness of placing ads for group members on law firm websites, saying she didn’t think it would “draw the matter to anyone’s attention”.
The judge overseeing the marathon trial between agricultural giants Cargill and Viterra over the $420 million sale of malt producer Joe White has shot down objections to both parties’ expert reports related to whether it was common industry practice to cheat customers by failing to comply with contract details and providing misleading malt test results.