Clayton Utz

A solicitor has lost her bid to appeal a decision which found Legal Aid NSW did not discriminate against her by declining to offer her a new temporary employment contract while she was on pregnancy-related leave.

While it was unfair for a judge to pick Gilbert + Tobin to run a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate, the judge was entitled to consider the law firm’s experience in a similar case against Toyota, an appeals court has said in its reasons. 

A class action against Toyota alleging it installed diesel defeat devices in several models of its vehicles has lost a bid to access source code for the cars’ emissions control systems, with a judge finding it was not relevant to any current fact in issue. 

Australia’s largest brick manufacturer Brickworks has accused a rival founded by billionaire Len Buckeridge of substantially lessening competition in Western Australia through a 2021 acquisition and engaging in predatory pricing that caused it to shut its doors in the state.

A decision awarding carriage to Gilbert + Tobin in a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate lacked procedural fairness, the Full Court has found, prompting the firm to team up with its competitor to run the case. 

Sky News has taken its fight with Isentia to the Full Federal Court, after a judge found the the media monitor was not liable for copyright infringement despite the “wholesale copying” of content distributed to government clients.

AMP has lost its bid for soft class closure in a class action over allegedly excessive superannuation fees, with a judge finding the court should exercise “real caution” when class closure is opposed by the applicant. 

A judge has ruled that media monitor Isentia did not infringe the copyright of Sky News, despite the “wholesale copying” of content for its government clients, because its actions were done for the “services of the Commonwealth or State”.

A judge has expressed concern that a “bizarre” last-minute settlement in a long-running case against the CFMEU could damage the public perception of the FWO as a model litigant, saying it could appear that the ombudsman treated some perpetrators as “more equal” than others. 

Competition law experts have raised doubts about changes to Australia’s merger review regime announced Wednesday, calling the reforms a mixed bag for businesses and the reduced role of the Federal Court “disappointing”.