Region

A judge’s refusal to recuse himself from hearing a costs dispute between MinterEllison and a former client has been overturned, with a court finding that a number of complaints made about the judge by the client created “a contest” between them.

Property developer Thirdi has rejected the claims of a class action brought by the owners of lots in an allegedly shoddy townhouse development in Sydney, and has filed a cross-claim seeking an indemnity from its builder.

A court has dismissed a bid to temporarily halt the demolition of three public housing towers in inner city Melbourne as a class action pursues the Victorian government over its decision to redevelop the sites.

Leading lawyers have welcomed a new practice note in the Commercial Court division of the Victorian Supreme Court, including a “rigid framework” to cut down on interlocutory disputation which is expected to benefit commercial class action litigants, but some say the note “should have gone further” to compel discovery from defendants.

Law firm HWL Ebsworth has successfully appealed a decision finding that its negligent advice over property in Paramatta’s ‘Auto Alley’ cost a client $2 million, with an appeals court finding the commercial opportunity lost by the client had no value.

A Perth solicitor found guilty of professional misconduct for failing to pay a barrister’s $137,000 bill and deliberately misleading the Legal Practice Board of WA has been struck from the roll of practitioners.

A litigant in an estate dispute dropped his lawyers and filed a notice to the court naming Dentons Australia as his new firm of solicitors. Unhappily for him he made two mistakes: filing the notice himself, and apparently failing to tell anyone at Dentons he had hired them.

The litigation funder and lead plaintiffs in a class action against Queensland-owned Gladstone Ports are in dispute over who should be engaged to act in the long-running case after the solicitor on record left Clyde & Co for a rival law firm.

Former Bellamy’s Australia director Jan Cameron has been fined $8,000 after being found guilty of two counts of breaching the Corporations Act for failing to disclose her stake in the baby formula company. 

The state of Victoria has won its bid to prevent lawyers for a class action over Victoria’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle from proofing lay witnesses, ahead of a criminal trial against the Department of Health, which is due to start in May.