Japanese oil company Inpex has lost its bid for a split trial in a dispute with insurers AIG Australia and Mitsui Sumitomo over coverage for litigation related to defects at the $45 billion Ichthys liquified natural gas project in the Northern Territory.
Two judges on the Full Court bench hearing arguments over power to make common fund orders when approving class action settlements appeared to tip their hand on Monday, chipping away at a High Court judgment that has sowed deep division.
A judge has approved a $12 million payment to the funder of two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven, even as the funder plans to appeal a decision rejecting its bid for a common fund order for a $24.5 million commission.
The Full Federal Court has set aside a $150,000 defamation judgment for sports presenter Erin Molan and remitted the matter for a new trial, after finding a judge failed to properly consider publisher the Daily Mail’s defence of contextual truth.
The Albanese government will urge the court to shut down a Shine Lawyers-led class action against McDonald’s for allegedly denying workers rest breaks and allow a similar $250 million case by the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association to proceed instead.
A judge has shaved $80,000 off the damages recently awarded to a Papua New Guinea politician who sued Fairfax Media over a series of articles published in the Australian Financial Review, after finding she wrongly discounted a mitigation defence by the publisher.
A judge has questioned a bid by cruise operator Scenic Tours to water down a class action brought over a series of European cruises that went ahead in 2018 despite a record-breaking drought that saw river levels drop so low they became impassable.
A judge has declined a bid by former United Petroleum franchisees to stay two Federal Court proceedings in light of a class action against the petrol giant over the introduction of loss-making Pie Face stores, finding the suits have little in common.
Lawyerly’s Litigation Law Firms of 2022 racked up precedent-setting victories in a year that continued to see major developments in class action law.
A judge has largely approved the funder’s commission and legal fees to be deducted from a $192.5 million settlement of a class action against oil company PTTEP, despite the costs halving the amount to go to group members.