Mills Oakley

A judge has dismissed a recusal application in an employment case against Laing O’Rourke Australia, which alleged an email from his associate inferred misconduct by a barrister and a Mills Oakley solicitor representing the construction company.

Administrators of collapsed budget airline Bonza have been given two more months to try to sell the company, with the Federal Court finding a sale would be of greater benefit than liquidation to the airline’s 58,428 creditors, who are owed $116 million. 

A judge has expressed concerns that measures implemented to deal with the large number of Bonza creditors expected at the first creditors meeting on Friday unintentionally “foreclosed” on their right to vote to replace Hall Chadwick as administrators.

Budget Australian airline Bonza owes almost 58,000 customers, 320 employees and 130 suppliers after it was put into voluntary administration last week when aircraft lessors claimed the airline was in default and grounded its planes, a court has heard. 

A commercial leader at engineering and construction company Laing O’Rourke was unfairly dismissed over false claims he was offensive and aggressive towards Stayz hosts who complained about a late night work party, a judge has found.

Mazda has been ordered to pay $11.5 million after a court found the Japanese car maker engaged in “appalling” customer service and misled nine purchasers of defective vehicles about their entitlement to a refund or replacement under the Australian Consumer Law.

Adani subsidiary Carmichael Rail has lost its High Court challenge seeking to have a dispute over damaged steel rails heard in Australian Federal Court rather than by an arbitrator in London.

Still in the dark about insurance coverage and seeking to stem the flow of cash, two class actions against Heritage Care and St Basil’s over COVID-19 outbreaks have been shelved pending the outcome of criminal cases against the Victorian aged care providers, in a decision the judge said “wouldn’t gladden the hearts of group members”. 

A judge has given a liquidator the green light to use substituted service to serve court documents on two directors of failed iron ore producer Ochre Group whose exact whereabouts are unknown, amid concerns about transactions leading up to the company’s collapse.

A former client has sued Mills Oakley and a Victorian law firm alleging they were negligent while advising on a property transaction with his parents that did not go through.