Justice Robert Beech-Jones

The legal sector has welcomed NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Beech-Jones’ elevation to the highest court in Australia, with former colleagues noting his legal acumen and generosity.

Willis Australia has won an appeal against its landlord, AMP Capital, with a court ruling the insurance broker is entitled to withdraw notice it gave in December 2019 to renew its office lease. 

A judge overseeing a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations, which settled for $50.45 million, has said the case was a “positive example” of representative actions.

As the spotlight on class action costs grows, litigation funders can expect increased judicial scrutiny of their attempts to pass on the cost of after-the-event insurance premiums to class action members.

A judge has approved a $50.45 million settlement in a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations. He has also approved a 13 per cent funding commission by way of a common fund order, saying debates about CFOs had become “lost in the label”.

Dam services provider Sunwater has asked the High Court to take its side in a dispute over insurance coverage for a $440 million class action settlement with victims of the 2010-2011 floods in Queensland.

The High Court has granted special leave to Irish insurer Zurich to challenge a decision allowing a class action over an allegedly defective New Zealand apartment block to proceed in the NSW Supreme Court.

Two alleged victims of a former Sydney doctor who pretended to be a plastic surgeon and performed breast augmentation surgeries that left them injured cannot make claims against Avant Insurance, an appeals court has ruled. 

Irish insurer Zurich Insurance has appealed a judge’s finding that a class action filed against it in the NSW Supreme Court over a defective New Zealand apartment block could go ahead, arguing the finding was the result of federal overreach.

A NSW barrister who continued to practice in local courts without a valid certificate has received a suspended prison sentence for criminal contempt, after a judge found the prospect of imprisonment was “the last remaining means of deterring him from contravening court orders.”