Judges

Billionaire Clive Palmer has been hit with indemnity costs over a discontinued lawsuit brought against aircraft mechanics over the repair of his $2 million private jet.

The High Court has found that Novartis unit Sandoz infringed Danish drug company Lundbeck's patent for its blockbuster antidepressant Lexapro, but has overturned a ruling that found the generic drug maker owes $26.3 million in damages.

Teleco contractor BSA has reached an in-principle settlement resolving a class action that accuses the company of misclassifying its workforce of technicians as independent contractors.

Cricket Tasmania has denied allegations by a former front receptionist that she was the victim of sexual harassment by Australian cricket players and senior managers, and says she has not suffered loss as a result of any alleged misbehaviour.

WA premier Mark McGowan's text messages between Kerry Stokes and the WA Attorney General have been revealed at the trial in Clive Palmer's defamation case, including an exchange in which the state's leader thanks the media baron for the "marvellous front pages".

The High Court has ruled that the “direct and far-reaching ramifications” of a contract between the federal government and Tasmania’s two major airports justifies an order for declaratory relief sought by local councils about the obligation of the airports' operators to pay rates.

An appeal by billionaire Clive Palmer and his mining company Mineralogy has succeeded in reinstating parts of their defence attacking the state of mind of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CITIC in allegedly applying commercial pressure over the $5.8 billion Sino Iron project in Western Australia.

A judge has come down hard on a settlement in class actions against supermarket chain Romeo's, saying group members had been kept in the dark and the costs to be paid to the plaintiffs' firm did not add up.

A class action settlement with Woolworths which "troubled" a Federal Court judge has been abandoned, with the lead applicants resuming their bid to intervene in a parallel proceeding brought by the Fair Work Ombudsman against the supermarket giant.

The NSW Supreme Court's new Chief Justice has used his maiden speech to lament how remote hearings and working from home has led to the "insidious depersonalisation" of the legal profession, with half-empty chambers and solicitor's offices losing their soul and personality.