Judges

Investors in an apartment development in Melbourne have brought a class action against the responsible managers for two managed investment schemes, alleging their funds were misused. 

Google has criticised two competition class actions which piggyback on claims brought by Fornite developer Epic Games as “opportunistic”, but counsel for the class actions told a court the suits on behalf of more than 15 million group members were in the public interest.

A judge has set aside subpoenas in a class action against Mercedes-Benz over alleged emissions cheating seeking material to identify group members and clarify the composition of the class, finding they were not issued for a legitimate forensic purpose.

The AFL has scored a small victory in concussion litigation brought by players, winning an order temporarily halting a case by former Western Bulldogs player Liam Picken.

The Australian unit of drug giant Mylan has triumphed in a dispute with Australian Taxation Office, with a judge finding the ATO’s assessment for 2020 was “excessive” with respect to interest on loans to fund Mylan’s $1.2 billion acquisition of generic drug maker Alphapharm.

Did Bruce Lehrmann rape colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019? That is the primary question in the case to be decided by the Federal Court early next month, and the credibility of the two principal protagonists is central to answering that question.

A judge overseeing a landmark competition case against Apple and Google has questioned whether Apple’s US lawyers wrongly used court submissions in Australia to put pressure on Epic Games in Europe and justify temporarily removing its developer account. 

Google offered Fortnite creator Epic Games $200 million and proposed to acquire equity in the company to prevent it from opening its own app store with exclusive content that could compete with the search giant’s Play Store, a court has heard.

A judge has rejected sweeping suppression orders sought by the founders of vitamin giant Nature’s Care over documents in a $200 million tax debt stoush with the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation, instead making limited suppression orders in light of the “serious” allegations made in the case. 

Aussie Broadband is seeking to set aside a notice from the board of internet service provider Superloop directing it to sell down its 19.9 shareholding in the company, arguing the sell order was made for an improper purpose amid a “contested takeover battle” between the companies.