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‘Don’t expect I’ll put up with crap’: Solicitor loses appeal of discourteousness finding

The director of a Sydney law firm has lost a bid to challenge a decision of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner, which slapped him with a caution for a failure to act courteously after he told a disgruntled client “don’t expect I’ll put up with crap” in a tense email exchange.

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In battle of Spitfire creditors, appeals court provides clarity on R&D refunds

A private investment fund has won its claim as a secured creditor over $2 million in research and development tax refunds that a court previously found should go to employees in a fight over funds remaining following the collapse of fintech Spitfire Corporation. 

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Tech exec subjected to DXC’s ‘unreasonable’ 7-year restraint clause wins appeal

An appeals court has found a seven-year non-competition clause in US tech giant DXC Eclipse’s agreement with the former director of Melbourne software firm Sable37, which it acquired in 2018, was unreasonable.

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High Court challenge could clarify scope of reliance damages

A city council in the Hunter Valley region is set to appeal to the High Court a decision that found it was liable to pay a flight company over $3.6 million in damages for wasted expenditure after it repudiated a contract to lease land at the local airport.

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Lenders of collapsed Arrium lose appeal over directors’ loan drawdowns

Commonwealth Bank and other lenders of failed steel giant Arrium have lost a second attempt to put two of the company’s directors on the hook for alleged misleading representations on loan drawdown notices ahead of its $2.8 billion collapse.

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NSW judge Paul Brereton to lead federal corruption watchdog

Justice Paul Brereton has been appointed to lead the new National Anti-Corruption Commission, with the CEO of AUSTRAC, the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, as well as two senior figures at NSW ICAC also tapped for senior roles.

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Amid push for reforms, judges refuse to recuse themselves time and again

Requests by litigants for judges to disqualify themselves from presiding over cases were largely denied last year, in a raft of decisions containing lessons for litigants weighing up their own recusal bids in 2023.

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Law firm can’t recover costs of work by own solicitors, court finds

Following the lead of its Victorian counterpart, the NSW Supreme Court has found that law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell cannot recover costs in self-represented litigation against a former client over unpaid legal invoices.

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Arbitrator whose wife repped Gina Rinehart can hear family feud over mining assets

An appeals court has refused a bid by Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock to block an arbitrator from deciding a long-running dispute over valuable mining assets, despite his wife having acted for Gina Rinehart in related proceedings.

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High Court to weigh in on COVID-19 cancellation of hotel sale

The High Court has agreed to weigh in on whether government restrictions on social gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic frustrated a $11.25 million contract for sale of a hotel in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont.

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