The plaintiffs firms running rival shareholder class actions against construction giant Lendlease have pitched a proposal to join their competing cases, a plan that should find favour with the judge overseeing the cases, who recently forced the consolidation of three duplicate class actions against failed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson.
The High Court has cleared the way for victims of a rubbish tip fire that tore through 17,000 acres of farmland in the NSW Riverina to claim more than $20 million in damages in a class action, after rejecting an appeal bid by the local council.
The Queensland Supreme Court has upheld the legality of litigation funding agreements in a landmark class action judgment that could have a ripple effect across other states in Australia.
Law firm Holding Redlich has defended national managing partner Ian Robertson against allegations by NSW Labor Party general secretary Kaila Murnain that the lawyer advised her to keep quiet about a $100,000 illegal political donation.
The Queensland Supreme Court judge has refused to transfer proceedings by villa owners against Clive Palmer’s abandoned Sunshine Coast resort to the Federal Court, but has also rejected a separate bid by Palmer to shut down the case, which has been dormant for six years.
Businessman Clive Palmer has lost an application to put a stop to a trial in a case brought by the liquidators of collapsed Queensland Nickel after arguing the proceeding was continuing largely to pay the litigation funder bankrolling the case.
The NSW Supreme Court has ordered the lead plaintiff in a class action over the Sydney light rail construction project to pay $1.25 million in security for costs to Transport for NSW ahead of discovery, which is expected to cost $2.26 million.
A judge has ruled that a former executive of cyber security firm Secure Logic Group, who took advice from a lawyer to destroy the contents of a personal computer that allegedly contained confidential infomation from the company, has waived legal professional privilege over the communication.
The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority will hold a public inquiry with the powers of a royal commission to examine James Packer’s proposed sale of Crown Resorts shares to gaming mogul Lawrence Ho’s Melco Resorts & Entertainment.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has raised concerns about a proposed acquisition by Canadian dairy producer Saputo of competitor Lion Dairy’s cheese processing plants, saying the deal could substantially lessen competition in Tasmania.