A judge has ruled that a former executive of cyber security firm Secure Logic Group, who took advice from a lawyer to destroy the contents of a personal computer that allegedly contained confidential infomation from the company, has waived legal professional privilege over the communication.
A trailblazing country lawyer who took out seven overdraft extensions to self-fund a landmark $100 million case in the early years of the federal class action regime has stepped back into the ring to run a new case on behalf of dozens of Australian farmers.
German cladding manufacturer 3A Composites has denied that its cladding is unsafe and caused class members loss and damage, instead pointing the finger at unknown third parties and arguing the Federal Court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Westpac has defeated a responsible lending case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to almost 262,000 home loans, with the Federal Court finding the corporate regulator misinterpreted the operation of national lending laws.
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.
A judge has refused to join the insurer of collapsed Sydney builder Reed Constructions to insolvent trading proceedings brought by the company’s liquidators, after finding it was unreasonable to expect the insurance company to irrevocably confirm coverage.
ASIC has abandoned its market manipulation case against National Australia Bank contractor Whitebox Trading, just over a month after the financial regulator decided to appeal the Federal Court’s primary decision to throw out their case.
An appeal judge has stayed a $170,000 judgment against the head of a New South Wales law firm after he was found to have engaged in a “particularly sinister” campaign of sexual harassment against a former employee, despite concerns that some of his appeal grounds were “barely arguable”.
The plaintiffs in an investor class action brought against the insurers of Dick Smith have lost an early bid to determine the viability of their claim, amid concerns that the total value of five separate cases against the failed retailer will exhaust the $300 million limit of two insurance policies.
Jailed solicitor and fraudster Brody Clarke was not the mediocre, junior lawyer his boss at Sydney law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell made him out to be, a judge has said, but was considered a “young hot shot” who perpetrated a “catastrophic” $9 million fraud on media mogul Bruce Gordon in the scope of his employment.