Victoria

An upscale health and wellness facility in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has been sold to a private investor for $24.65 million. 

A $175 million deal struck to resolve 30 class actions on behalf of junior doctors in Victoria has earned the approval of a judge, who took the unusual course of dispensing with a court hearing on the settlement.

Former senior barrister Norman O’Bryan has pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges in connection with his role as counsel for the Banksia Securities class action.

Former barrister Norman O’Bryan has lost his bid to suppress reporting on the hearing where he was committed to stand trial for criminal offences related to his role in the Banksia class action, with a magistrate finding the orders would be “futile”.

The Victorian Supreme Court has granted cosmetic surgeon Daniel Lanzer an extension to provide discovery  in a class action against him and his clinic after hearing he was facing medical issues.

Agricultural giant Graincorp has reached a settlement in a class action by rural Victorians over noise and odour pollution allegedly emitted by its oilseed factory in rural Victoria.

The liquidator for collapsed property developer Monarch Tower has lost its appeal seeking an extension of time to bring voidable transaction claims said to be worth $27 million against 13 individuals and companies.

A judge has questioned whether an investor in failed Banksia Securities can bring a case against a court-appointed receiver over his support for a class action settlement later found to involve deception by a team of lawyers. 

The receiver for Banksia Securities — the failed lender at the centre of a scandal-ridden class action — has argued a new case accusing him of serious misconduct is vexatious and wants a court to release him from the claims.

A judge has declined a creditor’s bid to wind up Victorian builder Roberts Construction Group, finding that the application relied on a “very modest” debt and involved a solicitor’s email “cast in threatening terms”.