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The director of a Perth law firm fired a legal assistant by a text message that was generated with ChatGPT, the Fair Work Commission has found.

Four insurers have argued that class actions over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic should be de-classed, with one insurer saying group members cannot “go behind” a Full Court decision denying coverage for certain policyholders.

Although carefully reasoned, last week’s landmark judgment by the Full Federal Court finding power to grant contingency fees to class action solicitors has placed the question of statutory authority to award settlement common fund orders on more unsteady ground than before, experts say.

Members of the legal community in NSW are celebrating the revival of the state’s 123-year old industrial court, the oldest tribunal of its kind in the world, with the new president saying it will be “unburdened” by numerous requirements found in federal legislation.

A judge of the District Court in NSW has lodged a formal complaint against the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions after the DPP griped to the court’s top judge about her conduct while presiding over three criminal cases.

An advocate for women at the Bar and an expert in public law have been appointed to serve as judges on the Federal Court.

The NSW Supreme Court would have the power to deal with a contingency fee order made in a class action against KPMG if the accounting firm won its application to move the case from Victoria, making the existence of the order a neutral factor in the transfer bid, the federal Attorney-General has told the High Court.  

A new report from the Australian National Audit Office has found weaknesses in the Federal Court’s oversight of corporate credit cards, with the court agreeing to strengthen its policies and procedures, including in relation to the use of credit cards to cover taxi fares.

Trial has been set for next May in a case by Australian parents that accuses EnergyAustralia of engaging in misleading conduct in promoting a “carbon neutral” program, a case that puts carbon offset credits under scrutiny.

The top judge of the NSW Supreme Court has issued a warning over the use of artificial intelligence by practitioners, saying the technology may “encourage or feed laziness in research and analysis”.