Chief Justice Susan Kiefel has decried the low number of women barristers appearing in the High Court, questioning whether there is a “price” to pay for state and federal policies focused on appointing more female judges.
Engineering services firm G&S has lost a bid to shield emails about “the need to obtain legal advice” in a $270 million dispute with the operator of a NSW open-cut coal mine.
The former owner of fitness franchise Zap Fitness has sued accounting firm Pitcher Partners, claiming it failed to properly advise on a troubled share buy-back scheme that spawned litigation the company paid $4.25 million to settle.
An appeals court has found that two former executives of collapsed electronics retailer Dick Smith should pay the company’s receivers $11.8 million in damages for approving a dividend payment the company could not afford.
A judge has raised concerns that AMP Financial Planning has not compensated customers for allegedly failing to prevent life insurance churning, directing the firm to explain the “vanishingly small” number of people who have been remediated.
A Federal Court judge has recused himself from hearing a fraud trial against Forum Finance, after expressing that he had an “unfavourable” impression of director Vince Tesoriero’s reliability as a witness.
Despite noting that a class action trial and appeal were “unusual”, a judge overseeing a long-running class action against Ford has refused an application to send a notice to group members about a coming appeal in the case.
A judge who has granted a lawyer leave to appear in proceedings via audio visual link has warned the legal profession that courts are expecting to “return to normal” and that tolerance for remote hearings has “come to an end”.
The ACCC has raised concerns that Qantas’ proposed acquisition of Brisbane-based regional airline Alliance Aviation Services could harm competition in the market for flights for fly-in, fly-out workers.
Gaming giant Aristocrat Technologies has lost its legal challenge to a decision that rejected a patent for its popular Lightning Link electronic poker machine, after six High Court Justices were equally split on whether it could be patented.