The litigation funder that backed a now dismissed class action against aviation service provider Airservices has argued funders should not face costs orders in Fair Work class actions, with a judge saying the debate raised “a point of high principle”.
National car repair franchise Ultra Tune is preparing negligence suits against its former lawyers and auditors, after the company on Friday won a $590,000 reduction in a $2.6 million penalty for breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has failed in its challenge to a ruling that dismissed its bid-rigging case over mining exploration licences involving Cascade Coal and the sons of jailed Labor politician Eddie Obeid.
The Federal Court will hear two high-stakes trade mark appeals by the a2 Milk Company together, after IP Australia delegates found two marks containing “a2”, which is a protein found in cow’s milk, were not inherently adapted to distinguish its products.
Fairfax Media has challenged a judge’s “gravely serious” suggestion that one of its journalists lied about a confidential source, during the first day of a two-day appeal hearing over a $280,000 defamation judgment awarded to Chinese-Australian businessman Chau Chak Wing.
National car repair franchise Ultra Tune has argued in a Full Federal Court appeal that a $1.07 million penalty in an ACCC case was “manifestly excessive” because it was based on unintentional breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct that were caused by tardy accountants and auditors.
The ABC and Fairfax have lost their appeal seeking to revive a truth defense in a defamation case brought by Chinese businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing over a Four Corners program accusing him of espionage and links to the Chinese Communist Party.
A six-week trial set to start in October in the cartel case against mobility equipment provider Country Care Group has been vacated and rescheduled to next year, as the judge overseeing the case quipped that he was either the “canary or the guinea pig” in the landmark criminal proceeding.
A class action against the Federal Government’s Airservices has been dismissed after a “fatal” ruling that group members were not covered by enterprise agreements they argued had better terms than their own individually negotiated contracts.
Country Care Group has criticised the DPP for the “argumentative” tone of the notice setting out its criminal cartel case against the mobility equipment provider, and has secured an order for further clarity from prosecutors.