Law Firms

International law firm Pinsent Masons has lured a partner and two senior associates from K&L Gates’ planning and environment law team for its Sydney office. 

A judge has refused to declare COVID-19 a force majeure event in a loss for Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona, which seeks to back out of a construction project for a $696 million Kwinana waste-to-energy plant.

Accounting firm Pitcher Partners has hit back at a lawsuit by the former owner of fitness franchise Zap Fitness claiming the firm failed to properly advise on a troubled share buy-back scheme that spawned litigation the company paid $4.25 million to settle.

Eco-conscious Australian skincare company Sukin has been hit with a lawsuit alleging it misled consumers by selling products labelled with a carbon neutral certification it did not hold.

A judge has thrown out proceedings brought by mining magnate Clive Palmer in which he alleged an abuse of process by prosecutors and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, finding that Palmer’s suits were themselves a “misuse of proceedings.”

Dead or broke, the class action lawyers who schemed to defraud investors in failed Banksia Securities should not escape a $21 million judgment for damages and costs, a court has heard.

Businesses bringing a class action over Sydney’s $3 billion light rail project are pursuing a bold new claim that the NSW government pay not only for damages related to their nuisance claims, but for the 40 percent commission the litigation’s funder wants from a post-trial judgment.

A judge has thrown out an underpayments class action against NSW not-for-profit Life Without Borders for failure to advance the case with due diligence and slapped the lead applicant with costs for his “unreasonable” acts during the course of the proceeding.

A judge overseeing two underpayment class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s has declined to vary a settlement agreement to provide for distribution by Christmas, saying plaintiff firm Adero Law had not taken “all reasonable steps” to facilitate the payments.

Three of the Big Four banks have agreed to pay a total of $126 million to settle class actions on behalf of up to one million customers who were sold consumer credit insurance.