Judges

GM can't strike out a class action over alleged faulty transmissions in Holden cars, with a judge saying the case doesn't need to identify the “precise mechanical, metallurgical or engineering explanation” for alleged defects.

A long-running class action against the Murray Darling Basin Authority over alleged negligent water management, including the failure to consider the impacts of climate change, will head to trial next month, just weeks after the court issues judgment in another closely watched climate class action. 

Builder Acciona and consultant AECOM have been named as defendants in a class action on behalf of families of victims of a bus accident in Hunter Valley, NSW, facing allegations they were responsible for the construction and certification of the interchange where it occurred. 

A private equity fund is challenging a ruling that it acted in an “oppressive” and “unfairly prejudicial” way towards its managing director, who a judge found was invalidly sacked for standing in the way of a deal with her business partner’s son. 

Receivers of the $500 million East Rockingham waste-to-energy project will have until the end of September to hash out a plan to maximise creditor returns, as Acciona's wait for approval of its bid to acquire the plant continues.

Atlantic will have to pay its dues to a local council in Western Australia, where it operates a $700 million mining project, with a court rejecting arguments that would allow mining companies to avoid paying rates on land that may produce “considerable profits”.

Payday lenders BSF Solutions and Cigno have lost an appeal in action by ASIC alleging they engaged in unlicensed credit activity and charged prohibited fees, in the case's second run up to the Full Federal Court.

A judge has criticised Mayfair Group’s “directing mind” James Mawhinney in a do-over of ASIC’s case over notes tied to Mission Beach properties, saying “vociferous and continuous efforts” to blame others, including lawyers, for investor losses did not reflect well on him.

Funeral insurer ACBF has been hit with a $3.5 million penalty for “callous” and “egregious” misrepresentations to Indigenous customers that its business was Aboriginal owned or managed.

In a new suit against the developer of an abandoned $185 million project in Sydney, Shinetec has asked the court to declare its priority interest in a $48 million payment recently paid to the developer by Bank of China.