A Sydney barrister and solicitor have settled a dispute over a $320,000 bill initially estimated to cost $60,000 after an appeals court found two costs agreements were void and held that courts should take a “purposive approach” to the rules governing costs disclosure obligations.
Banks targeted in long-running class actions over flexible commission schemes for car dealers are resisting the plaintiffs’ bid to amend their pleadings to “get around” the defence that certain claims are time-barred.
The High Court has been asked to weigh in on whether the Federal Court’s prevailing approach to the disclosure requirements of the Patents Act “imposes too great a burden” on patent applicants.
An underpayments class action against Sydney Trains has flagged an application to exclude unregistered group members from any settlement, as the High Court steps in to resolve an appellate court split on the power to make class closure orders.
The NSW appeals court has clarified the operation of the Uniform Law in the state, finding that insurers offering professional indemnity insurance to legal practitioners must be approved by the state’s Attorney General.
A class action accusing the New South Wales government of unfair persecution of south coast Indigenous groups for engaging in cultural fishing practices has slammed the state’s defence as “poor in the extreme”.
Fortescue has rejected Element Zero’s “implausible” claims that the start-up’s founder was instructed by the mining giant’s IP manager to access and delete certain documents after his resignation, as it defends allegations that search orders it won over the alleged misappropriation of its confidential information were based on weak evidence.
Several insurers have won a dispute with two Melbourne businesses about whether an industrial special risks policy can cover losses suffered during COVID-19 lockdowns, with a judge finding the policy did not respond just because there were recorded cases in Melbourne.
A environmental group has lost its challenge to the extension of the Mount Pleasant open cut coal mine in NSW operated by MACH Energy, with a judge finding the planning commission considered greenhouse emissions and did not merely pay “lip service” to the issue.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has reached an agreement with Woodside Energy to drop proceedings over the company’s Scarborough gas project in Western Australia, which alleged the $16.5 billion joint venture could not go ahead until its climate impacts were assessed.