A law firm has won its second bid for a group costs order in three class actions against banks over flexible commission schemes after a judge in 2021 rejected what was then the first-ever application for a contingency fee.
A decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that reproduced almost entirely verbatim and without attribution the submissions of the prevailing party as its own reasons damages the public’s trust in the AAT and must be overturned, a court has ruled.
Advanta Seeds has won an appeal upholding the dismissal of a class action by sorghum farmers over allegedly contaminated seeds, with a court finding that the seed producer’s duty of care was negated by clear disclaimers.
Nine has defeated a bid to strike out its truth defences in a defamation case by a Melbourne hairdresser alleging a segment on ‘A Current Affair’ about ‘internet trolls’ and subsequent comments on the program’s Facebook page defamed her.
A class action against Bayer over its Essure device has won court approval to add new allegations, including that the contraceptive caused sexual dysfunction, with a judge finding the new claims could not have taken the German drug maker by surprise.
A Chinese crypto miner has won its equipment back, for now, after a Melbourne business it charged with looking after the machines allegedly allowed four other businesses to access them, culminating in a five-way stoush involving an ambulance and police.
Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have been hit with $6 million in penalties for violating consumer credit protections laws, including by failing to respond to financial hardship notices from debtors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A judge has approved a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers, but the slice for the law firm running the action and its litigation funder remains to be determined amid allegations of negligence by the former lead applicant in the case.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has lost its challenge to a decision that tossed its case alleging NSW Ports stymied competition when it signed a 50-year agreement with the state to privatise two ports.
An appeals court has thrown out a $285,000 negligence judgment against Sparke Helmore over two sales contracts worth $1.5 million and rejected a NSW developer’s attempts to squeeze the law firm for a heftier damages bill.