A company owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer has lost its bid to temporarily block funding for a class action over the troubled Coolum Palmer Resort, with the Federal Court finding that special levies garnered from villa owners to back the proceedings were above board and legal.
A judge has questioned whether he should sign off on a $49.5 million settlement in a class action against National Australia Bank over allegedly worthless credit card insurance, which he said had a “fundamental flaw” because it did not contain a provision automatically cancelling group members’ policies.
The ACCC has revealed that it will bring at least four new competition cases this year, with chairman Rod Sims also promising that the regulator could pick up the pace when it comes to launching proceedings.
ASIC has criticised a Federal Court judge for his ‘thought experiments’ around prospective home loan applicants feasting on Wagyu beef and shiraz, as the regulator challenges the judge’s dismissal of its responsible lending case against Westpac.
The Kingdom of Spain must pay $375 million after it failed in its bid to claim sovereign immunity from the enforcement of two foreign arbitration awards related to renewable energy investments.
The ACCC claims it was not required to prove Kimberly-Clark’s flushable wipes caused actual harm to sewers, as it challenges a ruling that disposed of its consumer law case against the personal care giant.
Financial services provider IOOF may have beaten back regulatory action, but it still faces the wrath of shareholders, with a new class action claiming the firm engaged in corporate misconduct that includes insider trading, front running and breaches of trustee duties.
Westpac has criticised Shine Lawyers for allegedly turning a registration and opt out notice to class action members into a ‘sales pitch’ designed to book-build for the firm, saying the High Court’s recent common fund ruling forbade approval of anything designed to boost the commercial viability of a case.
Supermarket giant Coles may be hit with a class action after it was revealed on Tuesday that the company owes staff in its supermarket and liquor businesses at least $20 million in pay.
A major litigation funder in Australia is weighing its options after the High Court ended the practice of common fund orders and the Victorian Government introduced a bill allowing contingency fees, options that include establishing its own law firm