The power to make common fund orders in class actions is a question before the High Court a second time, but the justices aren’t likely to quell the conflict simmering in the courts below, at least until they have a concrete order before them.
Law firm Thomson Geer has bolstered the ranks of its media team with the recruitment of News Corp senior litigation counsel Marlia Saunders to its Sydney office.
MinterEllison’s acting chief executive officer Virginia Briggs will officially take the reins of the law firm after temporarily replacing ousted CEO Annette Kimmitt.
Combatting “opportunistic” class actions is one of the main drivers behind proposed legislation to reform Australia’s continuous disclosure laws, but the federal treasury department has brushed off a Senate committee’s request for a list of cases apparently deserving of the derogatory tag.
A top intellectual property barrister who has worked on cutting-edge cases that raise novel questions about the patentability of inventions has been appointed to the Federal Court.
The ACCC has cleared Woolworths’ planned $552 million acquisition of a 65 per cent stake in wholesale food distributor PFD Food Services without the supermarket giant’s proposed undertaking to maintain independence between the company for three years.
Criminal charges have been laid against the auditor of stockbroker Halifax Investment Services, whose 2008 collapse left around $200 million in client funds trapped, in the first criminal charges brought over auditing services in Australia.
Global resources giant BHP Group has lost an appeal in its fight to exclude foreign investors from a shareholder class action over the 2015 Fundao dam disaster, after arguing the class action regime applies only to those in Australia.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has followed through on his threat to sue YouTuber Jordan Shanks for defamation over videos that allegedly implied the politician acted corruptly, engaged in blackmail and repeatedly committed perjury.
Reported plans by the Morrison government to continue its class action reform efforts by legislating a minimum gross return to group members was roundly knocked by experts who spoke to Lawyerly in the wake of the latest class action inquiry report.