The NSW legal community has welcomed to the bench the newest Supreme Court judge, Richard McHugh, who reflected on his good fortune in a ceremony on Tuesday and vowed to try, at least, not to get grumpy.
A environmental group has lost its challenge to the extension of the Mount Pleasant open cut coal mine in NSW operated by MACH Energy, with a judge finding the planning commission considered greenhouse emissions and did not merely pay “lip service” to the issue.
The top judge of the NSW Supreme Court, which has seen a precipitous drop in class actions, has defended his court and taken shots at the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court for embracing contingency fees for class action lawyers.
A judge has signed off on a $230 million settlement of a class action on behalf of thousands of junior doctors who allege they were systemically underpaid by the NSW government.
A tribunal has recommended that a Sydney solicitor be struck from the roll after finding him guilty of professional misconduct for sending numerous profane emails to a Mills Oakley solicitor during a dispute, noting the “unrelenting stream of discourteous, insulting or offensive correspondence” directed to the tribunal.
A judge has rejected Lendlease’s argument that Queensland building legislation does not apply to cross-border works carried out at Gold Coast Airport, saying the builder’s construction of the law would require a “bolt-by-bolt” analysis of construction work.
A law firm partner has avoided personal liability for costs after expert reports were filed late in a dispute with developer Mirvac over alleged defects in a Sydney apartment complex, having walked back an appeal to “competing commitments” that didn’t wash in court.
In submissions to the High Court, the applicant in a class action brought on behalf of Arrium shareholders against KMPG has attacked the Attorney-General’s argument that a contingency fee order is a neutral factor in assessing the accounting firm’s bid to move the case from Victoria.
The former premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, has failed in her bid to quash the state corruption watchdog’s finding that she engaged in serious corrupt conduct in awarding funds to the district of her politician boyfriend.
A medical imaging company has lost its negligence case alleging Malouf Solicitors failed to advise it that its defences in District Court proceedings were doomed to fail, with a judge finding the company’s executives were informed of the risks of defending the case.