A Federal Court judge has ordered that a referee consider how junior barristers were used in assessing the legal costs in an insurance class action against Westpac which the bank has agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is resisting a novel proposal by ASIC to use its CommBank app to notify 6.3 million customers of a $7 million fine against it for overcharging interest, saying the move would pose a “significant risk” to the public.
A judge has urged parties in a class action against Westpac over superannuation fees to hold an in-person mediation, saying that success rates have “plummeted” during the COVID-19 pandemic as more settlement talks are held virtually.
A judge has found he has power to order that opt out notices be sent to a limited number of Boral shareholders eligible to join two class actions that faced off last month in a class action beauty parade.
The companies behind the top selling Abilify medication have lost their latest bid for documents from the Commonwealth in a multimillion dollar dispute over the delayed listing of generic versions of their drug, with a judge saying the material could be only “of the most marginal relevance”.
Building products supplier Wagners has been awarded $4.8 million from Boral after Wagners successfully challenged a ruling in a high-stakes cement supply dispute with the construction material giant.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has taken leave from his role as general manager of Seven Networks in Queensland, less than two months before trial begins in his defamation lawsuit against Nine-owned Fairfax over articles that accused him of war crimes.
NSW public sector employees have lost their bid for a 2.5 per cent salary increase, with an appeals court upholding a decision which found the economy would be better served by public spending on infrastructure investment than public service salaries.
The trustee of Mayfair Group’s collapsed IPO Wealth Fund has denied claims in a class action that it misled investors who lost $86 million when the fund was wound up, and says it is fully indemnified for the class action’s claims under an agreement with the fund.
Westpac will recoup the majority of proceeds from the $29.6 million sale of collapsed fintech Sargon Group, with a judge calling the company’s liquidators “anxious sellers” who sold at speed and well below market value.