The Full Federal Court has thrown out an appeal by a former special counsel of HWL Ebsworth, ruling the senior practitioner was reasonably fired for violating the firm’s media policy in press interviews and not because of his political views.
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.
Judges have no power to order all class action members to pay a proportion of a litigation funder’s commission out of their share of a settlement, the High Court has ruled in a landmark judgment that deals a huge defeat to litigation funders.
The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
The National Australia Bank has admitted to most of the violations alleged in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s case over the bank’s $24 billion scandal-ridden ‘Introducer’ loan referral program.
Responding to a class action on behalf of over 250,000 car owners, auto giant Toyota has admitted issues with filters in three of its diesel vehicle models but says drivers who failed to respond to warning lights in their cars could not clam damages for any breaches of quality guarantees.
Pharmaceutical company Generic Health has told the Federal Court that, on advice from their solicitors, Otsuka and Bristol-Myers Squibb “deliberately” chose not to disclose their reasons for an admission in a long-running patent case over the anti-psychotic drug Abilify, which they are now seeking to withdraw.
A court has ordered the plaintiffs in a coal mine development contract dispute to destroy unredacted copies of privileged legal advice that were inadvertently disclosed by a solicitor for Allens, which was acting for the other side.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is pushing back against an application by ANZ Bank to stay the regulator’s civil penalties case over disclosures related to a $2.5 billion equity capital raising while it defends against criminal charges related to the controversial share placement.
Common fund orders are the completion of the notion of class actions envisaged when the regime was introduced 27 years ago, a joint-sitting of two appeals courts was told on the second and last day of a landmark challenge to what has become an oft-used case management tool by trial judges.