Judges have power to manage competing class actions by picking a winner in a so-called beauty parade, the High Court has ruled, but there is no one size fits all approach to the decision, and the law firm that files first is not guaranteed the coveted prize.
All Herbert Smith Freehills staff worldwide will receive a five per cent bonus in March, in addition to their usual yearly bonuses, due to the law firm’s strong performance so far this year.
Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has attacked a lawsuit brought by a group of lenders against collapsed steel giant Arrium, rejecting claims that $430 million in loans was borrowed under misleading or deceptive representations.
The Victorian government will argue for summary dismissal of two class actions filed over the bungled COVID-19 hotel quarantine program said to be responsible for the state’s second pandemic wave last year.
The High Court has set a date for handing down its keenly anticipated judgment in a case that challenged the winner of a beauty contest of class actions against AMP, a decision expected to offer guidance on how courts should tackle the so-called multiplicity problem.
The former group treasurer of collapsed steel giant Arrium has hit back at claims brought by the company’s liquidators that it was trading while insolvent, arguing the case had been ‘infected’ by evidence from an expert who was also a plaintiff in the case.
Embattled financial services firm Greensill Capital has lost an emergency bid for a temporary mandatory injunction that would have forced its insurer to renew trade credit policies covering $4.6 billion in client loans as it fights to avoid collapse.
Doomed iron and steel giant Arrium attempted to stave off its inevitable $2.8 billion collapse and put off negotiating with its lenders until the last minute despite warnings from its legal and financial advisors, liquidators for the company told the court.
Directors of steel producer Arrium continued to borrow money from “vulnerable” lenders in the months prior to the company’s $2.8 billion collapse and “bled cash” despite the inevitable end, a number of lenders have said on the first day of a 40-day trial in the NSW Supreme Court.
Horizon Oil has won its bid to shield Herbert Smith Freehills documents advising the company did not breach foreign bribery laws from being revealed in a defamation lawsuit brought against Fairfax Media by a Papua New Guinea government Minister.