Westpac wants Forum Finance founder Bill Papas held in contempt of court, but the bank has hit a snag in serving its motion on the missing Papas, saying he dropped his lawyers without telling them the address of his current residence in Greece.
As Australia’s largest cities prepare to emerge from lockdown, law firms are doubling down on their efforts to vaccinate staff, with some going so far as to implement a ‘no jab, no office’ policy.
A Forum Finance director is unable to file a defence against Westpac’s $400 million fraud case because his former solicitor has refused to hand over case files to his new lawyers until he pays a “remarkable” $300,000 legal bill, a court has heard.
Big Six firm Ashurst has committed to achieving gender parity among its partners and senior business service leaders within the next five years.
Supermarket giant Woolworths has denied the Fair Work Ombudsman is entitled to seek compensation for its underpayment of staff, saying its $330 million remediation to affected employees fully answers the regulator’s case.
Government-owned Airservices Australia has appealed an order that it pay $72,450 in fines to a civilian air traffic controllers union for withdrawing guidelines for standby shifts, which a judge found was a “serious breach” of an enterprise agreement.
Six of the world’s largest car makers have agreed to pay $52 million to settle class actions accusing them of selling cars with deadly Takata airbags.
Assessing claims of privilege involving multidisciplinary firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers that offer legal and accounting services is “inherently awkward”, a court heard on the final day of a hearing in a privilege battle between the accounting firm and the ATO.
Chinese lender Aoyin must pay PricewaterhouseCoopers’ legal costs for a vacated trial after Aoyin’s eleventh hour decision to join Baker McKenzie to a $10 million cross-claim in a dispute concerning the accounting firm’s advice on its failed bid to launch the first Chinese incorporated bank in Australia.
The NSW Police have commenced an investigation into Forum Finance and director Bill Papas, which have been accused by Westpac, French investment bank Societe Generale and Japanese bank SMBC of a $400 million fraud.