Events

The New South Wales Bar Association has lost an appeal seeking a financial penalty and a professional reprimand against a Sydney barrister for his “poorly judged, vulgar and inappropriate” behaviour, with an appeals court finding damage to his reputation and a hike in his insurance premium dwarfed any punishment it could dole out.

Ford has challenged its loss in a class action over its allegedly defective PowerShift transmissions, arguing group members who have had their cars repaired are not entitled to damages.

The lead applicant in a superannuation class action against two IOOF units has successfully appealed a decision that barred the case from proceeding under a carveout in Victoria's Supreme Court Act forbidding class actions involving trust property.

Singapore telecommunications giant SingTel cannot claim over $894 million in tax deductible "transfer pricing benefits" for interest paid by a cross-border subsidiary on a loan for the $14.2 billion acquisition of Optus, the Federal Court has ruled.

Refugee activist Shane Bazzi has appealed a defamation judgment ordering him to pay $35,000 in damages to Peter Dutton over a tweet which accused the defence minister of being a rape apologist.

Australia’s leading regional airline faces further litigation after an appeals court found it sent a threatening letter to prospective cadet pilots, urging them to stay in cheap, “inappropriate accommodation” in order to demonstrate their commitment to the company.

A litigation funder has taken aim at a landmark judgment in an appeal of a ruling that found its funding arrangement with group members in a class action against Queensland energy suppliers was a managed investment scheme.

An appeals court has dismissed an appeal in a professional negligence lawsuit by a New South Wales developer against HWL Ebsworth over a due diligence report that led to the purchase of a $25.5 million parcel of government land at risk of flooding.

Oil exploration company PTTEP has appealed a judge's findings that oil that gushed from one of its wells in the Timor Sea in 2009 reached the coasts of Indonesian islands and damaged the crops of local seaweed farmers.

The High Court has granted Google special leave to challenge a $40,000 defamation judgment awarded to gangland lawyer George Defteros, with the search giant arguing it should not be held liable for a "mere hyperlink" to an article.