Judges

A judge has slapped payday lenders BSF, Cigno and their directors with a combined $7 million in penalties for engaging in unlicensed credit activity, finding a lower penalty was appropriate given they had relied on legal advice from Piper Alderman.

A judge has rejected a bid to amend a shareholder class action against Beach Energy, saying the way the applicant had articulated its case on loss by reference to an expert report was “apt to lead to confusion”.

Accenture has lost its bid for summary judgment in a former HR exec's case alleging she was booted from her role after raising concerns the company could be liable for $40 million in backpay.

A judge has bawled out lawyers in a case against water treatment firm Phoslock and auditor KPMG for putting forward a High Court ruling for the mistaken proposition that he had power to make the class closure order sought.

A Toorak developer has been barred from calling on nearly $500,000 in security, with a court finding an allegation against contractor Kronstruct was “irrational and misconceived" and did not result in the alleged $1.6 million loss. 

A dispute between the developer of a luxury Sydney apartment complex and an owners corporation will stay in court, with an appeals court confirming it was preferable to an expert determination. 

A former client of a Sydney law firm has lost his bid to up a $300,000 damages award against the firm over a defective notice in a proposed $7.8 million land sale.

A contradictor has recommended the court trim $3 million from a funder's cut of a $67 million settlement in a class action against QSuper, saying the court should not allow 'double dipping' given the funder was shielded from some risk by ATE insurance. 

The start-up behind Hungry Jack's plant-based 'Rebel Whopper' has won court approval to patent a fake meat product after an opponent didn't participate in its appeal of an IP Australia ruling that held the patent lacked inventive step.

The NSW Court of Appeal has struck down a law passed in the wake of the Bondi massacre that barred protest after a terrorist incident, finding it unconstitutional.