For many in the legal profession the choice of Justice Jayne Jagot to replace the outgoing Justice Patrick Keane on the High Court, heralding a new era of judicial diversity on the top bench, was hardly a surprise.
Embattled investment firm Linchpin Capital has sued auditors Grant Thornton and Moore Stephens for signing off on the compliance plan for a registered fund that allegedly used investor money to advance the company’s business interests and line its directors’ pockets.
A judge has thrown out competing appeals of a decision finding Pfizer’s patent for its post-operative injectable painkiller Dynastat is valid and that Australian drug maker Juno Pharmaceuticals infringed the patent by selling generic versions of the drug in Australia.
Construction firm CIMIC has foreshadowed a fight over āobscureā new pleadings in a two year-old shareholder class action alleging the company failed to keep the market informed about issues with its Middle East operations.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has suffered a defeat in proceedings alleging the Commonwealth Bank of Australia accepted conflicted remuneration through the sale of its Essential Super product, with a judge finding the regulator “ignored the circumstances” in which the product was distributed.
A judge who slashed the fees of a law firm that reached a $1.55 million settlement in two class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s has expressed her “annoyance” at the firm’s attempt to tender time records to justify the bill.
Two former executives of defunct electronics retailer Dick Smith have asked the High Court to hear their challenge to a $11.8 million damages award for approving a dividend payment the company could not afford.
As the FBI joins the hunt for the hackers behind last week’s massive data breach at Optus, a second law firm has launched an investigation into possible claims against the telecommunications giant.
The applicant in an investor class action against Virgin Australia plans to appeal a judgeās decision requiring litigation funder Balance Legal Capital UK to give the airline an indemnity in order to bring the proceedings, saying the indemnity āsubstantially changes the risk calculus” for group members.
The judge overseeing a class action against US medical device maker Boston Scientific is considering appointing a contradictor to look over the $105 million settlement reached in the case, despite seeing no obvious obstacle to approving the deal.