A class action launched over the Scotsburn bushfire that burnt down 12 homes and ravaged over 4,000 hectares in Victoria in December 2015 has reached a $10.5 million settlement with agricultural machinery company Agrison and insurer Auto & General Insurance Company.
A judge has found that the law firm behind a plethora of pelvic mesh lawsuits filed in multiple courts should be personally hit with costs for its “keystone cop-like conduct” in handling the proceedings, but has given the firm a week to convince him otherwise.
Directed Electronics has slammed a decision by one of its former managers to switch lawyers in the middle of a trial over alleged corporate theft, saying the move had a “tactical flavour”.
Two former clients of Johnson Winter & Slattery cannot split a trial in their negligence proceeding against the law firm and have had a subpoena set aside as “vexatious, oppressive and unfair”.
The applicant in a $47.6 million class action against a unit of car leasing company McMillan Shakespeare has been denied access to insurance documents sought to determine the value of the case, with a judge saying access would “distort the playing field”.
Construction giant Icon has filed a cross-claim against the prefab concrete company behind the ill-fated Opal Tower, seeking to recover at least part of almost $28 million in losses spent after cracks in the building caused residents to evacuate in 2018.
The judge overseeing the trial in a trade secrets case brought by Australian auto electronics developer Directed Electronics OE against its rivals is considering how the cross-examination of witnesses will proceed given current restrictions imposed on gatherings due to the coronavirus, including in the event of a possible lockdown.
The lead plaintiffs in two shareholder class actions against Dick Smith can amend their case against accounting firm Deloitte, less than two months before a mammoth hearing is set to commence.
A Federal Court judge has frowned on a bid to transfer 12 individual cases over allegedly defective pelvic mesh to various state and territory courts, saying the manner in which the cases had been brought reminded him of the 1990’s when “mobile phones resembled house bricks” and suggesting the cases could be brought as a class action.
A judge has ordered all proceedings against Dick Smith to be heard concurrently during a marathon three month trial, after the plaintiffs in a shareholder class action brought against the failed electronics retailer’s insurers aborted a fleeting bid to temporarily discontinue their case.