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Looking for a slice of the class actions pie in Australia, UK plaintiffs firm Pogust Goodhead has launched an office in Sydney, headed by two lawyers from boutique Crichton & Co.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has raised concerns about the owner of realestate.com.au acquiring a national forms platform used by real estate agents, saying it could “significantly harm competitors”. 

Maddocks has recruited a special counsel from Ashurst to head up its trade marks and brand protection practice. 

The Law Council of Australia has come out in opposition to calls by the competition regulator for major reform to the country’s merger regime, saying the evidence did not support “wholesale” changes.

Technology company SARB has partially succeeded in a challenge to a ruling that it infringed a rival’s intellectual property in its development of a parking system used by the City of Melbourne, with an appeals court finding a judge made an error in his reading of the claims of one patent at issue.

The recent dismissal of two shareholder class actions after hard-fought trials is expected to lead to a recalibration of litigation risk and may discourage plaintiff firms and funders from pursuing what might once have been considered slam dunk cases, experts say.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been slammed for refusing to release a report by law firm Linklaters into alleged wrongdoing by international partners, with a senator saying the firm was “hiding behind” privilege after it made thousands of such claims during an ATO investigation. 

Calling all avid Lawyerly readers! Lawyerly is seeking nominations for its inaugural editorial advisory committee in 2024.

The NSW Supreme Court has welcomed its newest judge, who was praised by his peers as “universally popular” for his warm personality and among the best tax silks in the country.

Health law practitioners are grappling with “snowballing awards” in claims over psychiatric injuries, according to Sparke Helmore’s new health law partner.