Judges

Gaming giant Aristocrat has defeated a challenge by Light & Wonder to discovery orders it won for a possible lawsuit alleging two former employees who jumped ship to its rival misused confidential information about its popular Lightning Link and Dragon Link games.

Senator Linda Reynolds has testified that counsel for accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann told her it “wasn’t appropriate” to share the transcript from criminal proceedings against his client, which Reynolds sought to aid in her defence of civil claims by Brittany Higgins.

Super Retail Group has made a bid to disqualify the solicitors of its former chief legal officer, who has sued the company to enforce an alleged settlement. But the Rebel Sport owner may have to defend a duelling application to disqualify its own solicitors, from Big Six firm Allens.

Senator Linda Reynolds has admitted that she leaked a confidential letter from the Commonwealth’s solicitors to a reporter at The Australian concerning Brittany Higgins’ claims about the handling of her rape allegations, calling the letter’s confidentiality a “legal nicety” that she didn’t understand.

A $13.5 million settlement has been reached in a Gadens-led class action against former Quintis director Frank Wilson, and the funder of a rival class action is preparing to seek a chunk of the sum in what a judge has called a “most unusual circumstance”.

A judge has ordered public relations firm the Civic Partnership to hand over documents revealing the identity of the client behind an allegedly misleading ad campaign accusing convenience store chain On The Run of wage theft.

The Full Court is set to weigh in on whether judges who make adverse findings on credibility during the liability phase of a hearing should recuse themselves from determining penalty, an issue which a judge has said may require a new court protocol.

Senator Linda Reynolds has given evidence about the fallout of media reporting about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, saying she experienced health problems from the stress and felt she could not defend herself in the public eye since it was a criminal matter.

A judge has granted Brittany Higgins’ bid to subpoena text messages Linda Reynolds exchanged with accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s senior counsel, while also granting the senator’s bid for communications related to a fundraising page for Higgins.

As the Fair Work Commission takes its plan to appoint an administrator to the construction division of the CFMEU to court, a judge has recused himself from hearing the case after acting against the union while at the bar.