The State of Victoria has been hit with a class action for its allegedly negligent handling of its hotel quarantine program, which is believed to be responsible for the state’s second wave of coronavirus cases.
In what is believed to be a first in Australia, a judge hearing a defamation case between two Sydney lawyers has found that an emoji is capable of carrying a defamatory imputation.
The lead applicant in a shareholder class action against Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure over a 2016 tragedy in which four people died following a ride malfunction is seeking access to the company’s insurance documents, amid fears the theme park operator lacks assets to meet the estimated $310 million lawsuit.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has brought legal proceedings against four directors of Linchpin Capital Group, the latest action over the financial services firm that allegedly funnelled $11 million of investor funds into unauthorized business and personal loans.
Business lobby association Ai Group is calling on federal crossbench senators to oppose a move by Labor to block litigation funding rules introduced by the Morrison government aimed at curbing class actions.
The son of controversial class action lawyer Mark Elliott has hired a big gun barrister to represent him in the Banksia class action proceedings and will be asking the judge overseeing the case against him to step aside.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission will not take action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia or any of its directors of officers in relation to AUSTRAC proceedings the bank agreed to settle for $700 million in 2018.
Construction giant Boral must now contend with three class actions by shareholders alleging it failed to disclose financial problems with its US windows business, but the cases will stay on ice pending a High Court challenge.
Eight law firms made it to the courthouse door just under the wire last week, filing class actions on the eve of regulations that will require funders to register their class actions as managed investment schemes.
A $65 million sham contracting class action against fundraising company Appco has settled for just $1.9 million, leaving the company’s allegedly underpaid army of sales staff with “limited” recoveries of between $770 and $2,320.