Volkswagen has lost its challenge to a landmark $125 million Dieselgate penalty handed down by a judge who lambasted a $75 million fine proposed by the ACCC as “manifestly inadequate”, in what ACCC chair Rod Sims told Lawyerly was a “turning point” for the regulator to push for higher fines.
A judge has ordered that defunct Dover Financial Advisors and its former director pay $1.4 million in penalties for creating a misleading client protection policy he described as “an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak.”
The High Court will hand down its ruling Wednesday in a high-stakes case between ASIC and Westpac that is expected to clarify the line between personal and general financial advice.
The Full Federal Court has upheld the dismissal of grocery store Aldi’s lawsuit claiming that the Transport Workers Union engaged in misleading conduct by representing that it was responsible for road deaths and put “unsafe” pressure on truck drivers.
Bourke Street cafe Barfly’s has agreed to hand over $646,250 to the court in trust in an ongoing spat over its legal bills with a law firm that negotiated a $2.4 million settlement for the cafe in a negligence case.
The ACCC has reached the end of the line in its challenge to Pacific National’s $205 million acquisition of Aurizon’s Acacia Ridge Terminal in Queensland, with the High Court dismissing the competition regulator’s application to take up the appeal.
Telstra has lost an appeal in a case brought by Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane city councils over a planned upgrade of its payphone network across Australia, with an appeals court pointing to an “apparent paradox” in the telco’s claim it did not need planning permits to install its next generation digital phone booths.
Two more law firms have been joined to a lawsuit by defunct financial advisor Dover Financial accusing three law firms of providing negligent advice regarding an inaptly titled client protection policy which a judge found was “highly misleading” and “an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak”.
A Melbourne-based craft brewery has failed to save its ‘Urban Ale’ trade mark, with the Full Federal Court dismissing its appeal and finding that a judgment ordering the cancellation of the mark was correct.
The Federal Court has approved what is thought to be only the second ever audio-visual opt out notice in a class action, a move that will make it easier for group members to find out about class actions they may be eligible for.