A judge has found three lawsuits contesting compulsory COVID-19 vaccination orders by the New South Wales health minister should be heard together given the importance of avoiding competing judgments in the cases, which raise questions of public interest and drew tens of thousands of viewers to a live streamed hearing.
Despite COVID-19 case numbers in Australia hitting historic highs and the threat of an economic recession, law firms are cautiously optimistic about their ability to weather the storm without redundancies or reductions in staff pay.
Lockdown orders by the Victorian government and an international travel ban in place last year during the first wave of COVID-19 did not trigger a business interruption clause in an IAG policy at the centre of a test case brought by insurers, a judge heard Monday.
Insurance Australia has been hit with a class action by business owners whose claims for business interruption losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been denied.
A judge has thrown out an urgent bid by Australian religious leaders for a temporary exemption from COVID-19 lockdown orders in NSW and Victoria to observe upcoming religious holidays, saying granting the injunction may lead to deaths.
As states across Australia grapple with lockdowns and rising COVID-19 cases, lawyers practising in a range of areas, from employment to insurance, are bracing for a fresh wave of pandemic-related litigation before the year is out.
The judge overseeing ASIC’s first COVID-19-related case has criticised personal lender ClearLoans’ delay in responding to the case, saying a change in the company’s legal representation was not an excuse for defaulting on court orders.
With the Delta variant of the coronavirus thrusting Australia’s largest cities back into a protracted lockdown, lawyers forced to return to remote work for the forseeable future are lamenting the renewed loss of colleague and client connections.
Insurers Lloyds Australia and QBE want class actions by policyholders who were denied business interruption coverage for COVID-related shutdowns stayed until a related test case in the Federal Court is decided.
The heavy toll of COVID-related border closures on businesses in northern New South Wales could trigger a class action lawsuit, a lawyers has warned, as the political debate heats up over a proposal to move the border 7km south to the Tweed River.