The lead applicant in a class action against Bayer over allegedly defective Essure contraceptive devices will ask the court to discontinue its claims against two makers of the controversial medical implants.
Telstra has lost an appeal in a case brought by Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane city councils over a planned upgrade of its payphone network across Australia, with an appeals court pointing to an “apparent paradox” in the telco’s claim it did not need planning permits to install its next generation digital phone booths.
Property developer Grocon has “reluctantly” put its construction business into administration, blaming the NSW government’s handling of the Central Barangaroo development project which has sparked a $270 million lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has launched a sex discrimination case against former Senator Brain Burston, claiming a defamation case brought against her was part of an alleged victimisation.
Senior barrister Norman O’Bryan, who has conceded that he should be struck from the roll for his conduct in an alleged class action fee scandal, has been subpoenaed to give evidence for lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of O’Bryan’s co-conspirator.
A court has ordered Theta Asset Management, a collapsed financial services provider that ran a property investment scheme targeting retirees, to pay a $2 million penalty for issuing defective product disclosure statements.
A judge has set aside a subpoena issued by venture capitalist Elaine Stead in her defamation lawsuit against Fairfax, saying subpoenas could not just be issued “willy nilly” to identify a journalist’s confidential sources.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge hearing two competing class actions against Allianz Australia over “junk” insurance has asked the parties for feedback on what she should consider at a hearing on a request for a group costs order, which would allow the plaintiff lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, the first such request made since Victoria legalised contingency fees.
Shareholders who lost a Federal Court trial in their class action against engineering company Worley are challenging the decision to dismiss the case.
Insurers will face a flood of pandemic-related claims after an appeals court ruled in a test case brought by the Insurance Council that certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover do not apply to coronavirus-related claims.