Two executives of failed car washing franchise Geowash have failed in their attempt to overturn a $2.7 million penalty for overcharging and misleading franchisees, with the Full Court finding they had engaged in “a consistent pattern of conduct which was deceitful and dishonest”.
Volkswagen has asked the High Court to throw out a a landmark $125 million penalty over its emissions cheating scandal, the highest ever handed down in Australia for consumer law violations.
JPMorgan is fighting to keep details of failed settlement talks with ASIC under wraps in criminal cartel proceedings over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement, as ANZ seeks to uncover whether the corporate regulator made a deal with the investment bank ahead of the cartel case being filed.
A judge has refused to sign off on $13.8 million in fees sought by law firm Maurice Blackburn as part of a $44.5 million settlement in a class action against Woolworths, saying the amount was “intuitively out of the range” of what was a reasonable legal bill for the case.
A judge has ordered the applicant in a shareholder class action against former Arrium directors and KPMG over allegedly misleading statements made ahead of Arrium’s $754 million capital raising in 2014 to explain how the amount by which the mining company’s assets were allegedly overvalued was calculated.
Volkswagen has lost its challenge to a landmark $125 million Dieselgate penalty handed down by a judge who lambasted a $75 million fine proposed by the ACCC as “manifestly inadequate”, in what ACCC chair Rod Sims told Lawyerly was a “turning point” for the regulator to push for higher fines.
The judge hearing an underpayments class action against hospitality company Merivale has found the workplace agreement that covered the group members was not validly approved.
A bid by KPMG to push off the filing of its defence in a class action over misleading statements ahead of Arrium’s $754 million capital raising in 2014 has been shot down by a judge, who said the auditor has known the claims against it since November.
A judge has raised questions about an estimated $13.6 million in legal costs to be sought in an upcoming approval hearing on a $44.5 million settlement reached in a shareholder class action against Woolworths.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.