WA premier Mark McGowan has won the legal costs of running his defamation cross-claim against businessman Clive Palmer after a judge learned McGowan made a walk-away settlement offer in December last year.
A shareholder class action against Ernst & Young over its alleged inflation of assets owned by sandalwood producer Quintis has argued the accounting firm should be allowed only one expert witness, who should collaborate with a competing expert chosen by the investors.
Australian Mines has agreed to pay a $450,000 penalty to settle proceedings brought by ASIC after its managing director was allegedly caught lying at an investment conference about the value of an offtake agreement and funding for a project at its cobalt and nickel mine in Queensland.
A Globaltech patent for mining survey tools is facing another test, with rival technology company Reflex Technologies lodging an appeal after its invalidity challenge flopped.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed former Blue Star Helium CEO James Cruickshank’s challenge to a $40,000 penalty and four-year ban for failing to disclose to shareholders the identity of the buyer behind a botched sale of Texas oil assets.
Slater & Gordon has defeated Shine Lawyers in a contest to run a shareholder class action against Beach Energy, with a judge finding Shine’s tiered contingency fee arrangement was “mere window dressing”.
Piper Alderman has recruited a former Mills Oakley partner to join its commercial litigation practice in Perth.
Clive Palmer’s mining company Mineralogy has lost a bid to stay an expert determination process in a royalties dispute with Adani, with a judge ruling that the court should not “lightly disregard” decisions to resolve disputes by expert determination rather than court-based litigation.
Tiwi Islanders will file a new application to prevent drilling continuing on Santos’ $4.7 billion Barossa gas project after losing a challenge to stop the energy giant from beginning work on the first sea well.
A government-approved plan to build a waste facility in western Tasmania has been parked, after environmental campaigners won a judgment declaring the federal government’s approval of the proposed tailings storage facility was invalid.