Herbert Smith Freehills

Seven Network has appealed a ruling that revoked its 7NOW trade mark for non-use in a victory for convenience chain 7-Eleven as it seeks to expand its presence in Australia.

A landmark case brought by a shareholder advocacy group accusing Santos of greenwashing will seek to argue the energy company misled the market by presenting its carbon offset programs as plans to reduce emissions.

The judge overseeing a class action against Monsanto over its weed killer has rejected the agrochemical giant’s application to amend the common questions to be decided at a liability trial to account for its alternative defence.

Telstra and TPG have lost their challenge to the ACCC’s decision refusing authorisation for a $1.8 billion regional network sharing agreement, with the Australian Competition Tribunal finding the deal would increase Telstra’s dominance in the mobile phone market. 

A judge has approved a $29 million settlement in a class action against Westpac over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance, a deal that earns the bank’s customers at least $19.6 million. 

A judge has declined to hear an interlocutory stoush about the scope of a shareholder class action against engineering company Worley before an upcoming trial, saying the case, which has been on foot since 2015 and was appealed to the High Court, needed “some finality”. 

A $47 million settlement in a class action against ANZ — one of three settlements in a series of class actions against the big banks over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance — was fair and reasonable, a judge has said.

Wealth management firm Colonial First State has lost its bid to shield emails with internal counsel about investment options for its FirstChoice super fund after a judge found a class action applicant had joint legal professional privilege.

On the first day of trial in parallel class actions and regulatory proceedings, the Fair Work Ombudsman panned the payment systems adopted by Woolworths and Coles for salaried managers, saying they were “entirely foreign” to the industrial award and that the supermarket giants had “no meaningful proper records” for overtime. 

Westpac, Macquarie and ANZ are seeking class closure orders ahead of mediation in three class actions over flexible commissions schemes, telling a court hearing they will be “completely at sea” without a better idea of the class size.