The CFMEU will fund a landmark multi-million dollar class action against labour hire company Workpac seeking repayment of leave entitlements it claims are owed to more than 600 coalminers, in the latest casual employee challenge to hit the courts.
Coal company Glencore has taken further legal steps to block the Australian Taxation Office from accessing documents related to its offshore affairs, after its bid to shield documents exposed in the Panama Papers leak failed before the High Court.
Global pharmaceutical firm Pfizer is mulling an application to stay a lawsuit by Merck Sharp & Dohme seeking to invalidate a patent related to the blockbuster Prevnar 13 vaccine as it awaits the outcome of similar proceedings in the US.
A judge overseeing competing class actions against AMP over allegedly excessive superannuation fees has signed off on an agreement by two rival law firms to consolidate their cases, avoiding a potentially costly and drawn out beauty parade.
Grocon has won the right to appeal a $13.9 million interlocutory judgment in an ongoing lease dispute with property management firm Dexus, amid concerns that the construction company would be deemed insolvent if it was forced to pay the interim demand notice.
AMP has added two law firms to separately represent its subidiaries in one of two class actions alleging it charged its superannuation members excessive fees.
The judge overseeing proceedings brought against logistics company GetSwift has refused the corporate regulator’s request for another year’s worth of documents, saying it could effectively require the company to start the discovery process over again.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has lost a bid for the documents behind an Australian Federal Police warrant to search its headquarters, with a Federal Court judge criticising the media organisation for embarking on a “fishing expedition”.
The original solicitors who stepped down from leading a class action against Westpac unit BankSA amid abuse of process allegations will bring separate proceedings in the Federal Court seeking a bigger slice of the multi-million dollar settlement sum to cover their costs.
A senior partner at a Sydney-based law firm has denied he made a “deliberate decision” to withhold advice from a former client suing for alleged breach of duties and conflict of interest over a rejected $4.45 million settlement in an employment dispute with Westpac.