US company Branhaven has won leave to amend its cow genome patent after a judge dismissed opposition by industry bodies Meat & Livestock Australia and Dairy Australia as “flimsy” and “bizarre”.
AMP has retained Herbert Smith Freehills — one of its go-to law firms — to represent it in legal proceedings by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission seeking documents from Clayton Utz as part of an ongoing investigation of the wealth manager’s fees-for-no-service conduct.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has lost an appeal of a ruling that dismissed its case over allegedly inadequate disclosures by private health insurer Medibank relating to member benefits.
The law firms that challenged a ruling staying their cases against GetSwift gave the Full Federal Court a chance to guide judges managing competing class actions, but they can’t avoid paying their opponents’ legal costs because the court happened to seize the opportunity.
A judge looked dimly Monday on a pitch by baby food maker Bellamy’s to limit to $4.5 million the costs incurred by the law firms leading joint class actions against the company, saying the request was “very ambitious”.
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is taking a fight over a ruling that shut down its shareholder class action against logistics startup GetSwift to the High Court.
A court has told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to produce more detailed allegations against former Tennis Australia directors Harold Mitchell and Stephen Healy over Seven Network’s five-year deal for the broadcast rights to the Australian Open after the regulator was slammed for a vague filing.
The court’s authority to shut down competing class actions is no longer in doubt after Tuesday’s Full Federal Court judgment in the case against GetSwift, and while there is no “silver bullet” when it comes to how judges must deal with multiple proceedings, there are key factors to weigh, the appeals court said. Here, experts provide the big takeaways from the landmark ruling.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed a challenge to a ruling that chose one of three shareholder class actions to proceed against GetSwift, saying the court had the power to permanently stay competing cases. But an injunction blocking the losing law firms from communicating with clients was going too far, it said.
Pacific National would not misuse its market power after taking control of an important rail terminal in Brisbane because that would be “irrational”, the Federal Court heard Monday at the start of a two-week trial in the competition watchdog’s case alleging the rail giant colluded with competitor Aurizon to become the dominant operator of key freight corridors.