Judges

A class action seeking to hold a regional NSW law firm liable for the actions of a former employee who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for fraud offences in 2021 has reached a settlement. 

Attacks at trial on the credibility of Bruce Lehrmann hit their target, but it’s still his case to lose on Monday morning, when judgment is delivered on his defamation claims against Ten. Throughout the case the network has borne the burden of proving Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation was true, and it is the very seriousness of that allegation that made the task harder.

A former director of Noumi has won his challenge to the food manufacturer’s claim for legal professional privilege over a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by its lawyers at Ashurst, with a judge finding the company waived privilege by disclosing it to Australian Securities and Investments Commission. 

A judge has approved a group costs order in a shareholder class action against building materials giant James Hardie Industries, giving firm Echo Law a 27.5 per cent cut of any proceeds from the case.

Dental aligner maker Invisalign has won an appeal of a decision rejecting its case accusing SmileDirectClub of misleading consumers, but the appeals court noted that the prospect of a new trial was “remote” after its competitor went under.

An underpayments class action brought by postgraduate research candidates at the University of Sydney is facing another summary dismissal bid from the federal government, as the university foreshadows a novel argument that the group members are not employees.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is challenging a decision that Finder Wallet did not need a financial services licence to sell its defunct cryptocurrency product.

A class action against the New South Wales government alleging it discriminated against Indigenous communities on the south coast for engaging in cultural fishing practices will include up to 15,000 people, a court has heard.

A judge has summarily dismissed a case by five passengers against Qatar Airways that alleged the airline was liable for invasive examinations conducted by Qatar police after a newborn baby was found in a bin at the Doha airport. But the case is allowed to continue against subsidiary MATAR.

The collapsed companies behind dumpling chain Din Tai Fung have been hit with over $3.8 million in penalties after a judge found they engaged in a “a calculated scheme to rob employees of their hard-earned wages and deceive the authorities”.