Reports exposing serious government and healthcare failures amid Victoria’s second COVID-19 wave have strengthened the claims in class actions against the Andrews government and two aged care providers, according to the law firm behind the cases.
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 Victoria Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit by restaurant owner and Liberal member Michelle Loielo challenging the validity of the Victoria government’s now dropped COVID-19 curfew, with a judge finding that the measure was legal and “proportionate to the purpose of protecting public health”.
A judge has criticised a law firm that is suing its former client, Melbourne cafe Barfly’s, for $745,000 in legal fees after the firm sought to join the brother-in-law of Barfly’s owner Tony Hachem to the case.
A Victoria Supreme Court class action will soon be filed against fertility clinic Monash IVF seeking compensation for women who allegedly had viable embryos discarded thanks to inaccurate genetic testing.
The Victorian government has not decided how it will respond to a constitutional challenge brought in the High Court against the state’s COVID-19 lockdown measures, and has been given just four more days to make its move.
The judge overseeing a challenge to Victoria’s recently lifted COVID-19 curfew has dismissed the state’s government bid to have the court split the hearing and first determine whether restaurant owner Michelle Loielo had standing to bring the case.
The health official behind Victoria’s now repealed curfew is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit brought against her challenging the directive on human rights grounds, claiming that the declarations sought would have “no foreseeable consequences” on the Liberal Party member who filed the case.
A case by restaurant owner and Liberal Party member Michelle Loielo challenging Victoria’s COVID-19 curfew is continuing despite an announcement by the Andrews government scrapping the curfew on Sunday night.
The public health official responsible for Victoria’s controversial curfew has had her credibility attacked in court, with a judge hearing suggestions that she may have been “coached and assisted” by the state government.