An appeals court has set aside findings of professional misconduct against a Perth solicitor who allegedly failed to pay a silk $23,000 in fees after finding a tribunal member had served on a chambers’ board with the senior barrister for eight years.
A judge has ordered National Australia Bank to pay just one-fifth the $10 million penalty proposed by ASIC for overcharging customer fees, taking aim at the regulator’s concise pleading and saying the maximum penalty he could order was “woefully inadequate”.
A theatre company accused of discriminating against actress Christie Whelan Browne and subjecting her to repeated sexual harassment has dropped a bid to suppress parts of her claim to protect actor Craig McLachlan from distress and embarrassment.
The judge who rewarded the law firm with the lowest ever GCO proposal with carriage of an $80 million class action this week noted the competitive forces that shaped a “very good deal for group members,” but competition has its downsides, experts say.
A judge has approved a common fund order awarding $6.88 million to the funder behind a class action against Fonterra that settled for $25 million, opting not to wait for a much-anticipated appeals court ruling on the power to make CFOs at settlement.
The rancour is rising between Care A2 Plus and its US business partner Gensco Pharma, with the infant formula company firing off a cross-claim in a lawsuit alleging it breached a lucrative distribution deal.
A class action against a group of surgeons who worked for The Cosmetic Institute over allegedly incompetent breast augmentation procedures has been set down for trial over the “loud protest” of the defendants, with a judge choosing to accommodate the plaintiff’s no win, no fee counsel team.
The winning, 14 per cent contingency fee proposal by Slater & Gordon in a fight to run a class action against Star Entertainment was not driven by a desire to prevail in the contest and buy market share but was the product of a “reasoned decision” that took into account the law firm’s practice as a whole, a judge has found.
Class action boutique Bannister Law must bring a formal application to partner with a US-based law firm in proceedings against Hyundai and Kia over allegedly faulty anti-lock braking systems ahead of a fight with Maurice Blackburn to run the cases.
A judge has asked why the union representing Qantas workers did not bring a class action on behalf of 1,700 ground crew who were sacked during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he ordered the airline’s new CEO to attend settlement talks after losing its High Court appeal.