Certain claims in a shareholder class action against insolvent training company Vocation and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers have been dropped, as the long-running case awaits a new trial date pending the outcome of a separate Full Court appeal.
A judge’s decision refusing to approve a $42 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Murray Goulburn because of a “too high” funder’s commission has set the stage for a showdown over the power of courts to alter funding agreements, a battle potentially more consequential than the fight over common fund orders now before the High Court.
The Full Federal Court has reimposed bans against four former directors of collapsed retirement village owner Prime Trust, including former federal health minister Michael Wooldridge, following a successful High Court challenge by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Awaiting a Full Court ruling in a case involving similar claims of privilege against self-incrimination by partners at another accounting giant, the judge in a consolidated class action against PricewaterhouseCoopers over its auditing of the failed Vocation has vacated the February trial date.
Counsel for a class action against Arnold Bloch Leibler alleging negligence over advice to Slater & Gordon has criticised the law firm’s barrister for seeking more time to file a possible dismissal application because he was “only briefed yesterday”, saying the excuse had become an all too frequent one.
An elite Melbourne law firm has become the latest target of Slater & Gordon shareholders whose stock went south after the plaintiffs firm’s disastrous $1.2 billion acquisition of UK professional services outfit Quindell, facing a class action alleging it was negligent in its role conducting due diligence for the deal.
The judge overseeing multiple class actions against Volkswagen over its dieselgate emissions scandal has said he will “need persuading” before reallocating the settlement approval to a different judge, because “that’s something that happens in Victoria”.
The judge overseeing Vodafone’s court battle with the competition regulator over a proposed merger with TPG questioned TPG founder David Teoh when the billionaire boss told a courtroom Thursday mobile technology was rapidly evolving, a remark seemingly at odds with the teleco’s claim that it had no viable option in the next five years for resuming a stalled network rollout.
The reclusive head of TPG Telecom, David Teoh, faced the spotlight on Wednesday to give evidence in a case over the company’s planned $15 billion merger with Vodafone, telling a court under questioning that his company had not budgeted for a 5G network when it first made plans to enter the retail mobile network market.
The competition regulator’s opposition to the proposed $15 billion merger of telecommunications companies Vodafone and TPG was based on “mere possibilities” and was “chock full of speculation”, the Federal Court heard Tuesday.