The Federal Government has argued a class action against the expansion of a northern NSW mine has “conspicuously failed” to show that the emissions would contribute to “catastrophic harm”, but a judge has questioned the Commonwealth’s contention that other countries would be responsible for the emissions.
Trial kicked off Tuesday in a landmark class action brought by teenagers seeking to halt the expansion of a Whitehaven coal mine in NSW, with the barrister for the teens arguing catastrophe was likely if the expansion was blessed by the Federal Minister for the Environment.
Two Clive Palmer companies have again been blocked from accessing documents held by two law firms and a litigation funder to pursue a potential lawsuit against Queensland Nickel, with an appeal court dismissing the bid as “unmeritorious”.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is looking to shut down a class action by irate bondholders of collapsed asset finance lender Axsesstoday Limited over alleged misrepresentations in a $50 million bond offer.
Two shareholders of failed Arrium Group have secured leave from the High Court to challenge a ruling that nixed their planned examination of a former director to bolster a class action over the collapse of the steel producer.
The maker of Vagisil feminine hygiene products has successfully overturned a ruling that denied its bid to stop a European competitor from registering Vagisan as a trade mark in Australia.
A barrister for a Sydney criminal lawyer who wears hearing aids and is suing News Corp’s Nationwide News over allegedly defamatory Daily Telegraph articles referring to his profound deafness has likened the stories to accusing bespectacled lawyers of being blind.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.
The ATO has refused to sign an undertaking that it won’t prosecute PricewaterhouseCoopers for tax crimes if it hands over thousands of documents at the centre of a legal professional privilege fight.
Meat processor JBS Australia has appointed new legal representation in a battle with the Australian Taxation Office over the scope of privilege attached to thousands of documents produced by its tax adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers, after a judge raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest in PwC’s representation of its client.