Activist US short seller Bonitas Research is refusing to participate in legal action brought in Australia by Rural Funds Group, as it continues to press allegations of fraud, which sent the agricultural fund manager’s share price plummeting.
Gaming and entertainment giant Konami has lost a bid to amend its defence in a patent case by rival Aristocrat Technologies on the second day of a damages hearing, with the judge finding the changes were contrary to the interests of justice and would require postponing the trial until late next year.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will not challenge a Federal Court ruling that dismissed its case against fund manager IOOF as “unpersuasive”, “fundamentally inadequate” and “tenuous in the extreme”.
Car rental company Australian 4WD Hire will need to take steps to recover deleted, allegedly threatening emails after a court found it had not complied with its discovery obligations in an unconscionable conduct case brought by the consumer regulator.
A judge has dismissed a professional negligence claim against a personal injury law firm, finding no prospect of success for a former client who alleged the firm “coerced” him into settlement of a workplace sexual assault case so they could receive their costs.
The applicant in a shareholder class action against Iluka Resources can put up security for the company’s legal costs by way of two insurance deeds of indemnity, but a bid to use the deeds to replace the $1.25 million it earlier paid in cash security has failed.
A judge is considering whether he can increase a record $75 million civil penalty settlement reached by Volkswagen and the ACCC over the dieselgate scandal, after saying the people of Australia would be “upset” if they knew about some of the “outrageous” terms to which the consumer watchdog had agreed.
Two patent attorneys being sued by boutique IP firm Pizzeys Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys are resisting an application for preliminary discovery, denying the firm’s claim that they misused confidential information to poach clients.
A judge has refused to sign off on a $42 million settlement of a class action against dairy giant Murray Goulburn, saying the commission sought by the funder appeared out of proportion to the risk and above the going rate.
A judge has ordered all proceedings against Dick Smith to be heard concurrently during a marathon three month trial, after the plaintiffs in a shareholder class action brought against the failed electronics retailer’s insurers aborted a fleeting bid to temporarily discontinue their case.