Judges

A theme park manufacturer contracted by Dreamworld to undertake $5 million in works has won a challenge to an adjudicator’s decision that found a payment claim was invalid because the company didn't have a building licence.

The judge overseeing the Robodebt class action, which settled this month for a record $548.5 million, may put the settlement administration role out to tender, saying the sum earmarked for the job was "staggeringly large".

Another judge has railed against the use of generative AI in court proceedings, after a self-represented litigant filed an application to annul his bankruptcy that was replete with fake citations.

A judge has ordered Facebook owner Meta to file its defence in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s three-year-old case over scam cryptocurrency ads on the social media platform. 

Facing allegations that it misused its market power with major retailers, Mastercard is challenging a ruling for the ACCC that lays bare discussions about merchant agreements involving inhouse lawyers.

The director of collapsed builder Shangri-La Construction wants to expand his defence in a suit over allegedly flammable cladding installed in a Melbourne building to argue a funding agreement with an owners corporation was not valid because nearly a quarter of owners abstained or voted against it.

A construction company has lost its bid to appeal a VCAT decision determining a $1.4 million dispute against it because of its conduct in the case, with an appeals court rejecting its “narrow and technical” reading of the tribunal’s powers.

Defunct telecommunications company Jabiru Satellite can add new claims to its suit against major banks for withdrawing support for Australia’s first satellite, but it can't put on a case that the lenders were “shadow” directors.

A judge has flagged the possibility of referring lawyers acting for Alvarez & Marsal to the legal watchdog after hearing the consultant's costs of complying with preliminary discovery orders won by Ernst & Young could top $500,000.

A judge has put off deciding what damages group members are owed in two class actions against Apple and Google after finding the tech companies engaged in anti-competitive conduct in the app marketplace.