A judge overseeing the closely watched trial in Clive Palmer’s defamation case against WA Premier Mark McGowan has vented his frustrations with the state of Australian defamation proceedings, railing against what he said was the common practice of parties refusing to concede even minor points.
Comments made about Clive Palmer by Western Australia premier Mark McGowan in press conferences were “heavy with historical and sinister significance”, a court has heard on the first day of trial in the mining billionaire’s defamation case.
The law firms and barristers who defended former Dick Smith directors in sprawling litigation over the failure of the electronics retailer earned close to $68 million in fees, a court has heard.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to open up its subsidised treatment program for stage IV melanoma patients to individuals who have been treated with drugs made by its competitors to settle a misuse of market power lawsuit brought by rival Merck Sharpe & Dohme.
Ashurst has bolstered the ranks of its financial regulation team with the appointment of long-serving Clayton Utz partner Narelle Smythe, who joins the firm’s team in Sydney.
Class action settlement totals skyrocketed to over $900 million last year, and one law firm negotiated the lion’s share, with $672 million in settlements under its belt.
Bayer has lost its bid to redact the names and contact details of potential group members from discovered documents in a Slater & Gordon-led class action over the drug maker’s Essure contraceptive device.
Swiss pharmaceutical company Biogen has won discovery of documents sent from Sandoz to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, as it weighs a third patent infringement lawsuit to protect its multiple sclerosis drug against generic reproductions.
Australia’s leading regional airline faces further litigation after an appeals court found it sent a threatening letter to prospective cadet pilots, urging them to stay in cheap, “inappropriate accommodation” in order to demonstrate their commitment to the company.
National Australia Bank and HSBC should be “jointly and severally liable” to pay a portion of the costs of a failed case brought by Dick Smith’s receivers against the company’s former directors because the banks stood to gain financially if the lawsuit was successful, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.