A judge has dismissed three proceedings by shareholders against the liquidator of failed global financial services firm Babcock & Brown, in a finding that highlights “serious problems” with market-based causation and may have ramifications for securities class actions.
Activist US short seller Bonitas Research is refusing to participate in legal action brought in Australia by Rural Funds Group, as it continues to press allegations of fraud, which sent the agricultural fund managerās share price plummeting.
Justice David Hammerschlag of the NSW Supreme Court has a way with words that readily lends itself to dramatic courtroom headlines. The “Hammer,” as he is known, also pulls no punches and is quick with one liners that keep counsel on their toes. Here, Lawyerly looks at some of the recent best moments inside courtroom 7D.
The applicant in a shareholder class action against Iluka Resources can put up security for the company’s legal costs by way of two insurance deeds of indemnity, but a bid to use the deeds to replace the $1.25 million it earlier paid in cash security has failed.
A judge has refused to sign off on a $42 million settlement of a class action against dairy giant Murray Goulburn, saying the commission sought by the funder appeared out of proportion to the risk and above the going rate.
A judge has ordered all proceedings against Dick Smith to be heard concurrently during a marathon three month trial, after the plaintiffs in a shareholder class action brought against the failed electronics retailerās insurers aborted a fleeting bid to temporarily discontinue their case.
Perth-based Farooq Khan has lost a key case in the battle for control over investment firm Keybridge Capital, after a judge invalidated a board decision to suspend activist investor Nicholas Bolton as CEO and terminate chair John Patton on the basis of Khanās breach of his directorsā duties.
Counsel for a class action against Arnold Bloch Leibler alleging negligence over advice to Slater & Gordon has criticised the law firm’s barrister for seeking more time to file a possible dismissal application because he was “only briefed yesterday”, saying the excuse had become an all too frequent one.
One of two shareholder class actions against infant food maker Bellamy’s for allegedly misleading investors about its China growth strategy and declining infant formula market share in Australia wants to expand the class definition to include purchasers of equity swaps.
The judge who presided over a rare securities class action trial last year against department store Myer will deliver judgment in the case this month that could be the first ruling on causation in Australian shareholder class actions and has the potential to have a chilling effect on law firms bringing the cases.