A judge has struck out part of a class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia that alleges it kept investors in the dark about deficiencies in its systems for monitoring money laundering and terrorism financing risks, saying it wasn’t clear what the bank was expected to disclose.
A year after the Federal Court issued its important ruling on competing class actions and foreshadowed orders prohibiting duplicative legal fees, the company at the centre of the proceedings — organic baby food maker Bellamy’s — has called on the court to make good on its promise about costs.
Concerns that the proposed acquisition of Sirtex Medical by a Chinese private equity firm would leave the company with insufficient funds to cover a settlement or judgement in a class action were eased Wednesday, after a barrister said the takeover would leave the company with just under $1 billion in assets.
The judge overseeing lawsuits by the ACCC as well as multiple class actions against Volkswagen AG over the Dieselgate scandal has ordered the car maker to provide the names of executives who were responsible for the development of the emissions cheating software.
Maurice Blackburn has filed its promised class action against BHP Billiton over the Brazilian dam collapse, and the case puts a twist on typical funding arrangements, with the law firm looking to earn what it dubs a “litigation services fee” for financing the case itself.
A judge on Thursday struck out former Prime Minister Mark Latham’s defence in a defamation case filed against him by the political editor of pop culture site Junkee, calling it an “extraordinary document” and the “antithesis of a pleading”.
A Federal Court judge has criticised Volkswagen for being “uncooperative” in refusing to tell the court who authorised the defeat device at the heart of the auto giant’s diesel emissions cheating scandal.
AMP has prevailed in a hard-fought fight over where it will defend five shareholder class actions brought in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, in a precedent-setting judgement that provides a road map for future jurisdictional battles over competing class actions.
A file note from a Herbert Smith Freehills lawyer is protected by legal professional privilege, a judge has ruled, shooting down a claim by the CFMMEU that the note may have been part of an unlawful scheme to block its merger with two other unions.
A pro bono class action on behalf of asylum seekers who allege they were unlawfully imprisoned in Australian immigration detention centres has been shut down by the Federal Court, which ruled Monday it had no jurisdiction to hear the proceeding.