As states across Australia grapple with lockdowns and rising COVID-19 cases, lawyers practising in a range of areas, from employment to insurance, are bracing for a fresh wave of pandemic-related litigation before the year is out.
A former University of Sydney political economy lecturer who was fired for conduct that included showing students a slide of a Nazi swastika superimposed on the Israeli flag has won a challenge to a ruling tossing his unlawful termination case.
A judge has again suggested the Full Court should weigh in on whether the court has the power to make class closure orders, but the barrister for the applicant in an underpayments class action against Domino’s Pizza told the judge her client may not want to be the test case.
Four Victorian hospital operators have been ordered not to talk with or propose settlements with junior doctors that are targeted in three class actions accusing them of failing to pay junior doctors for overtime hours worked.
Car repair giant AMA Group has so far spent $737,000 in professional fees investigating whistleblower claims and taking former boss Andrew Hopkins to court for allegedly defrauding the company.
With the Delta variant of the coronavirus thrusting Australia’s largest cities back into a protracted lockdown, lawyers forced to return to remote work for the forseeable future are lamenting the renewed loss of colleague and client connections.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has rejected findings of dishonesty, deceit and abuse of process in seeking to overturn a $160,000 judgment against it, saying it had no “evil intent” in litigating a long-running dispute with former partner Thomas Martin.
A former Norton Rose Fulbright partner locked in a six-year legal battle with the firm has urged the Full Court to allow a $160,000 damages award in his favour to be recalculated, saying it did not provide enough “sting”, amounting to just $1,500 per partner.
The CFMEU has abandoned its landmark multi-million dollar class action against labour hire company Workpac following the High Court’s ruling that dashed the hopes of casual workers seeking leave entitlements.
An IT specialist who claims he was was “heavily medicated” when settling Fair Work Commission claims has lost a bid to amend his pleadings in a workplace injury and negligence case that has ensnared law firms Harmers Workplace Lawyers and Firths.