The former chief financial officer of beleaguered Forum Group has been dragged into a lawsuit by Westpac seeking to recoup $294 million in funds paid into an alleged fraudulent scheme.
More than 18 months after a split emerged among the courts, the Full Federal Court will weigh in on whether judges have power to shut out unregistered group members from a class action. But given the breadth of the question for the appeals court, the issue is unlikely to be resolved there.
The Full Court is set to examine whether the Federal Court has the power to make class closure orders prior to mediation, weighing on one of the biggest unanswered questions vexing the class action regime.
A judge has dressed down ASIC over the handling of its action against GetSwift, criticising the regulator’s failure to seek a court injunction to prevent the company’s relocation to Canada.
A class action on behalf of people who claim they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer will argue the agrochemical giant should be hit with exemplary damages for its negligence in selling the herbicide, which the company allegedly knew caused cancer.
A judge has given the green light to expanded misconduct allegations in a shareholder class action against IOOF, including claims of insider trading and front-running.
A judge has scolded Slater & Gordon and two Westpac subsidiaries for a “disgraceful” privilege spat in a class action over allegedly excessive superannuation fees that he said had “gone badly off the rails”.
Forum Finance director Vincenzo Tesoriero wants to strike out Westpac’s claims against him and has told a court he too is a victim of alleged fraudster Bill Papas, having sunk up to $9 million in the company.
Logistics company GetSwift says it is considering an appeal of an 859-page judgment which lambasted the company and its directors’ “public relations-driven approach” to announcements on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The court has given the green light to an amended defamation defence by Clive Palmer which accuses Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan of “disgraceful and dishonourable conduct” and abusing his position by hastily and secretly enacting legislation that barred the billionaire mining magnate from suing the state for $30 billion.