Judges

A judge overseeing two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven that settled for $98 million has been urged to cut the payout to the law firm running the cases because it had a “troubling” practice of deferring its fees.

A fight over the venue for a class action against KPMG by investors in the collapsed mining company Arrium has been taken to the High Court, and at the centre of the battle is a contingency fee order made in the case.

Fleet management company Orix Australia has struck out in its bid to access certain files in an abandoned criminal case against two former senior executives as it seeks to claw back what it claims are losses suffered as a result of their breaches of duty.

An anti-lockdown protestor's application to have the High Court hear a challenge to the dismissal of her lawsuit over Victoria's stay-at-home orders has been rejected, with the justices saying the case should be heard by the state's Court of Appeal.

A former truck driver for Cooloola Milk who claims he was fired after asking about overtime pay has won his legal challenge to a decision finding that he was a casual employee and not entitled to protections against dismissal.

A judge overseeing a shareholder class action against Crown Resorts has ordered the casino giant to give details of board members' knowledge about two bank accounts which were allegedly used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.

A solicitor and former client is suing Corrs Chambers Westgarth for “very significant damages”, alleging breaches of multiple duties by the law firm in the course of protracted litigation.

Explaining his decision to reject a class action settlement that would have earned a law firm $1.75 million but provided nothing to 27,000 Woolworths employees, a judge has said the agreement created a conflict of interest between the solicitors and the workers they sought to set "adrift".

One Nation chief-of-staff James Ashby has failed to revive his lawsuit alleging the federal government breached the Fair Work Act by not paying his $4.5 million legal bill stemming from a dropped sexual harassment case against former House speaker Peter Slipper.

Former Bellamy's Australia director Jan Cameron has consented to preserving up to $5.1 million in her Australian assets and not moving them offshore while proceedings she launched against the Australian Taxation Office are on foot.