Contracts

Mercedes-Benz dealers have lost their appeal of a decision tossing their $650 million suit, with the Full Court backing the primary judge’s rejection of a "moralistic" approach to unconscionable conduct.

A Sydney-based Uber driver has filed a Fair Work Commission case seeking $50,000 in compensation and damages over recurring malfunctions in the rideshare app, saying drivers “should not bear the financial burden of Uber’s technical failures”.

A judge has ordered solicitors in a residential building spat to explain why costs orders should not be made against them, after they racked up sizeable fees for what she described as a small and simple dispute.

Engineering firm Destec has asked the court to finally knock out Mineral Resources' claim over alleged theft of trade secrets for a modular crushing plant.

Retirement village operator Lifestyle Communities has foreshadowed an appeal after a tribunal ruled that exit fees charged to departing residents were void.

Shinetec, the Australian arm of China’s Shanxi Construction Investment Group, has won orders restraining the developer of an abandoned $185 million project in NSW from accessing $48 million paid to it by Bank of China.

Lendlease has filed an appeal after it failed in its bid to enforce a $120 million purchase agreement for five plots of land in Campbelltown, in a high-stakes challenge set to be heard later this year. 

Fund manager Realside and other leaseholders have launched proceedings against M3Property and a valuer, alleging tenants of Rundle Mall in Adelaide have been overcharged for rent since 2006 as a result of consistently flawed valuations. 

The corporate regulator has taken a provider of small loans to court after it allegedly monitored and removed funds from consumers’ bank accounts without their knowledge.

The ACT government is pushing for an initial trial dealing with “gateway questions” in a class action over alleged forced relocations of public housing tenants, after it lost a bid to summarily dismiss the case.