Judges

Viterra has been hit with costs for persisting with a special leave application to the High Court seeking to compel Cargill to turn over emails exchanged with its lawyers at Allens during the sale of its Joe White Maltings business, even after Cargill agreed to waive privilege and produced the documents.

The lawyers leading a class action seeking damages from electrical distributor Endeavour Energy over the 2013 Mt Victoria bushfires have made a bid to amend the pleadings as the six-week kicked off Monday in the NSW Supreme Court.

A Federal Court judge has put ASIC's first fees for no service case, brought against two units of National Australia Bank's wealth management division, on an expedited timetable, saying the case was not new territory for the bank.

A Federal Court judge that threw out a consumer class action against MyBudget has denied the budget management company's bid for costs, finding the case was brought in the public interest.

HarperCollins has lost its bid for summary dismissal of a defamation lawsuit brought against it by two psychiatrists at the centre of the deep sleep therapy scandal that rocked the medical world in the 1960s and 70s.

Australian food manufacturer Trident Foods has won a partial victory after facing two appeals from US seafood giant Trident Seafoods seeking to remove its trade marks.

An investor suing property investment group Aviation 3030 can't avoid payment of half a million dollars in security for litigation costs because of a parallel enforcement action by the corporate regulator, a judge has ruled.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has been permanently barred from displaying select ads for its Strepfen throat lozenges, as the Federal Court dismissed proceedings filed by rival iNova Pharmaceuticals.

The litigation funder backing a class action against engineering company UGL over disclosures related to the ballooning costs of its Ichthys power project could pocket up to 30 percent of any settlement or judgment, according to a court order.

Building material manufacturer Amaca and distributor Seltsam have lost their appeal of a $1.5 million judgment won by a NSW resident who developed mesothelioma after working with asbestos during the 60s and 70s.