Judges

Lendlease has lost its bid to allow a key witness to give evidence by audio-visual link in its fight with a company owned by the Macarthur-Onslow family over a Campbelltown development.

The lawyer representing applicants in sexual harassment and discrimination class actions against mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto has said there may be thousands of group members.

Lawyers for a former partner of tax advisory firm Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills will cease to act for him in his case alleging he was sacked for complaining about client Lendlease’s “aggressive taxation position”. 

A judge has handed a win to a builder in a dispute with an RSL club, finding that even if an adjudicator wrongly construed a provision of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act, his decision could still stand.

After more than a decade, luxury home builder Glenvill is a step closer to remediation for an asbestos clean-up at an industrial site in the Melbourne suburb of Alphington, purchased from Amcor for residential development.

Rio Tinto unit Energy Resources has lost its privilege claim over an internal investigation into the failure of one of its wellhead systems, which is at the centre of a defects claim against equipment manufacturer Cactus Wellhead.

The eSafety Commissioner has told the Full Court X Corp should not be able to use its merger with corporate predecessor Twitter to escape regulation.

The peak body for community legal centres argues a case over alleged cookie cutter legal advice should be stripped of class action status, citing a recent judgment in a case against a Victorian law firm, but a judge noted there may be significant differences. 

A lawyer accused of trying to blackmail personal injury firm Maliganis Edwards Johnson has won a challenge to an injunction, with a judge finding the blackmail allegation was more nuanced than conveyed by the Canberra firm. 

Payday lender Sunshine Loans has lost an appeal after it was ruled liable for “wrongheaded” conduct, with an appeals court finding that counsel showed an “egregious failure” to confine the case to the real issues.