Going to court shouldn’t be a “Darwinian experience” for lawyers, where only those with thick skin or no children survive, NSW’s most senior judge has said.
IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees failed to drag law firm Sparke Helmore into a case after it was hit with a $76.6 million judgment over breaches of duty in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.
A judge has refused a bid to file a new pleading in a $1.3 million “squabble” with an “unfortunate history” between a client and his former solicitors, one of whom is now dead, dating back to 1993.
A judge has approved a $9.5 million settlement in a class action against McMillan Shakespeare as fair and reasonable, allowing a common fund order and a nearly 30 percent commission for the litigation funder despite previously raising “real concerns” about the small portion flowing to group members.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.
Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhlmsen Ocean has been fined $24 million for conspiring to fix the rates charged for shipping vehicles to Australia, bringing the total fines won by the ACCC over the shipping cartel to $83.5 million.
A Victorian barrister has reached a settlement on the eve of trial in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit brought by a former client who lost a court case over a $24.5 million real estate dispute.
Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram are pushing for a competition dispute brought by an Australian social media startup to be heard on their home turf in the state of California.
Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead is seeking indemnity costs after being awarded $280,000 in her defamation case against Nine-owned Fairfax, which she accuses of rejecting several settlement offers with “bugger off letters” and engaging in a “petulant campaign” of media coverage post-judgment.
The wealthy founder of auto repair franchisor Ultra Tune has secured a temporary injunction against his ex-girlfriend and a former employee prohibiting them from distributing secret recordings after excerpts from one damaging audio file were published by Fairfax.