Gilchrist Connell

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. 

A judge has ruled that HWL Ebsworth invalidly expelled a former capital partner, finding that the expulsion, which prevented him from participating in a planned float of the firm on the ASX, breached the partnership deed. 

Law firm HWL Ebsworth has successfully appealed a decision finding that its negligent advice over property in Paramatta’s ‘Auto Alley’ cost a client $2 million, with an appeals court finding the commercial opportunity lost by the client had no value.

A former HWL Ebsworth capital partner alleging he was unlawfully expelled and excluded from a planned float on the ASX has argued HWLE’s late managing partner, Juan Martinez, thought the firm could “hire and fire at will” without giving proper reasons.

A judge has railed against the parties in a class action against Sydney-based plastic surgeon Daniel Lanzer and four of his associates for “repeated failure to comply with court orders” in the two-year-old case.

Glencore-owned Viterra must pay indemnity costs to four Joe White employees it dragged into a 10-year feud with Cargill over the $420 million sale of the Joe White business, after a judge found its claims against them were “hopeless from the outset”.

Livestock drug company Zoetis has agreed to accept a $2.1 million payout to cover its costs in successfully defending a class action dubbed “totally off the planet” by a judge.

A disgruntled client who accused a Sydney-based law firm of running a “woefully prepared” case has lost his appeal of a judge’s rejection of his bid for a $225,000 personal costs order against the firm.

A class action against Virgin Australia has become a lawyers’ feast, with seven new firms entering the ring after a dozen insurers were joined to the action alleging the airline failed to disclose its true financial position in a $324 million capital raising prospectus.

A judge has directed a class action on behalf of 1,000 patients of Sydney-based plastic surgeon Daniel Lanzer and four of his associates to have another go at articulating claims that Lanzer’s clinic should be liable for allegedly ‘horrific’ complications.