A settlement reached in a lawsuit by the liquidators of collapsed steel giant Arrium against 10 former company directors accused of insolvent trading has been approved by a judge, who noted that while the settlement amount was “substantial”, the deal involved a “substantial compromise”.
Global resources giant BHP Group is seeking special leave from the High Court to appeal a ruling that rejected its bid to exclude foreign investors from a shareholder class action over the 2015 Fundao dam disaster.
The Supreme Court of Western Australia has thrown out a lawsuit against billionaire mining heiress Angela Bennett and her brother Michal Wright over the estate of their father, mining magnate Peter Wright, despite finding the siblings breached their fiduciary duty and engaged in deceit and fraud.
Third-party liability insurers may become the latest parties to be dragged into a complex class action over alleged defects in Sydney’s Opal Tower, which has has spawned six cross-claims so far.
Westpac and French investment bank Societe Generale have obtained freezing orders over $263 million in assets in fraud cases brought against a Sydney software firm and its director, with a court hearing that other financial institutions may also be at risk from the alleged fraud.
Insurers Lloyds Australia and QBE have been hit with class actions by policyholders who were denied business interruption coverage for COVID-19-related shutdowns.
Victoria’s Workcover has sued Crown and its major shareholder James Packer to recoup the compensation insurance it paid to a security guard who was allegedly assaulted by Packer on New Year’s Eve 2015.
Coffee capsule machine manufacturer Caffitaly has saved one of its coffee pod patents from a finding of invalidity, in a partially successful appeal of a ruling that stripped three of its patents from the Australian register.
A Senate committee has issued a vehement denunciation of the Morrison government’s proposal to permanently weaken the country’s continuous disclosure regime, calling the plan “foolish and dangerous”.
After winning a three-way contest to lead a shareholder class action against construction giant Boral, Maurice Blackburn is seeking to stay a competing class action by Phi Finney McDonald that was allowed to continue as a closed class action.