Mills Oakley

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. 

A litigation funder must pay indemnity costs to CoreLogic after bankrolling a photographer’s unsuccessful copyright claim against the property data analytics company, with an appeals court finding it pursued the litigation for its own personal gain.

Atomos’ former US-based CEO — who was fired after she failed to relocate to Melbourne — has lost her fight to stay the video technology company’s lawsuit, with a judge finding the dispute over a bridging loan for the international move should be decided under Australian law.

Automotive electronics company Directed Electronics has won a $168.5 million award after a judge found its former manager and South Korean giant Hanhwa engaged in a “reprehensible” trade secrets theft.