A judge will appoint an independent barrister to determine the allocation of settlement proceeds between insured group members and their insurers from two St Patrick’s Day bushfire class actions, finding that the ‘overly combative’ conduct of law firm Maddens warranted the appointment despite the extra costs involved.
The NSW government cannot assert public immunity over cabinet documents sought in a case brought by the ACCC over an allegedly anti-competitive agreement for the privatisation of Port Botany and Port Kembla.
The ACCC has reached the end of the line in its challenge to Pacific National’s $205 million acquisition of Aurizon’s Acacia Ridge Terminal in Queensland, with the High Court dismissing the competition regulator’s application to take up the appeal.
Two companies owned by billionaire Clive Palmer have suffered a legal setback, with a judge setting aside prior orders enforcing two awards in a $30 billion mining dispute with the Western Australian government and criticising the companies for misleading the court.
Brisbane-based law firm Tucker Cowen and three of its principals are facing an unfair dismissal case by a former special counsel who exited the firm earlier this year.
Billionaire Clive Palmer has reached a deal to end his many legal woes with villa owners at the shuttered Palmer Coolum Resort in Queensland, a month after his $21 million settlement offer was rejected.
Property developer Grocon has “reluctantly” put its construction business into administration, blaming the NSW government’s handling of the Central Barangaroo development project which has sparked a $270 million lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court.
An appeals court has shot down oil and gas giant Santos’ bid for expanded discovery against engineering company Fluor, finding that the application was “akin to a fishing expedition” that was based on “a shaky assumption” by lawyers from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Mining services company Thiess has lost its challenge to a class action ruling which found the company had underpaid workers for time spent on the bus travelling home from a Pilbara-based liquefied natural gas processing plant owned by Woodside Energy.
A barrister for billionaire Clive Palmer has expressed doubt that the mining magnate’s defamation case against Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan can be resolved in mediation.