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MIS regime to vex class action judges, experts say
New requirements that funded class actions be run as managed investment schemes will throw up myriad new questions for the courts, with lawyers predicting novel challenges by defendants and group members and an altered landscape for competing class actions.
Judge slams ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach to Fair Work claims
A judge hearing a $2 million dispute between a former tenured professor and the University of New South Wales has lamented the lengthy pleadings filed in Fair Work cases, saying “everything but the kitchen sink seems to be thrown in, without any discrimination”.
Energy regulator takes Tesla big battery owner to court
The Australian Energy Regulator has filed court proceedings against Hornsdale Energy Reserve, the owner and operator of the world's second largest lithium-ion battery, for allegedly failing to provide promised contingency services to avoid power disruptions in 2019.
Pharmacor challenges patent extension for Biogen’s MS drug
An Australian generic drug manufacturer has struck back at patent lawsuit by Swiss pharmaceutical company Biogen, alleging a patent for MS drug Tecfidera is invalid and a that a patent term extension for the drug  was wrongly granted.
Judge to hear second group costs order bid in G8 shareholder class action
A Victoria Supreme Court judge will hear the second ever application for a group costs order in a shareholder class action against G8 Education, saying she hoped to deal with the bid in a “straightforward way”.
Forum Finance director faces $300,000 legal bill, can’t mount defence, court told
A Forum Finance director is unable to file a defence against Westpac’s $400 million fraud case because his former solicitor has refused to hand over case files to his new lawyers until he pays a “remarkable” $300,000 legal bill, a court has heard.
BHP settles with worker sacked over COVID-19 social media posts
BHP Billiton has resolved a case by an employee who claimed the company breached the Fair Work Act by sacking her for alleged social media harassment of a co-worker who failed to self isolate after an interstate trip at the start of the first COVID-19 wave.
Judge denies law firm’s bid for indemnity costs, says $2.7M case not ‘hopeless’
A Melbourne law firm has lost its bid for indemnity costs after it failed to convince a judge that its settlement offer to a former client was anything more than a demand to capitulate in a “hard fought” legal battle over a $24.5 million East Melbourne development.
QBE says infectious disease exclusion applies to COVID-19 claims in Victoria
While a first test case in NSW rejected insurers' interpretation of infectious disease exclusions in COVID-19 business interruption policies, potentially putting the industry on the hook for billions of dollars in claims, QBE says the law is on its side in Victoria.
Class action mediation ‘pointless’ without unregistered group member data, Pitcher Partners says
A judge has refused a bid by accounting firms Pitcher Partners and EY to access share trading data of unregistered group members in a securities class action over advice to Slater & Gordon, despite claims upcoming mediation will be "pointless" without the information.