A judge has approved a “disappointing” $25 million settlement in long-running class action litigation over the collapse of electronics retailer Dick Smith with claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The High Court has rejected special leave applications by mining magnate Gina Rinehart to appeal a ruling which only partially stayed a legal dispute over ownership rights and royalties relating to the Rinehart family-owned Hope Downs iron ore mine, with one judge calling the mining magnate’s arguments a “tortured articulation” and “very odd”.
A judge has signed off on a settlement in two shareholder class actions against clothing retailer Surfstitch, but has capped the legal costs and commissions sought by the litigation funders after finding the law firms behind the cases sent out notices to group members that were “misleading” and “understated” the risks of joining the class.
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.
In airing a ‘7:30′ segment that revealed racehorses were being slaughtered in violation of industry rules, the ABC acted with malice in what was a “set up” designed to make the head of Racing NSW “look bad”, a court has heard.
Sydney businessmen Charif and Tarek Kazal have appealed a ruling that found their claims against Gilbert + Tobin over an alleged dishonest scheme to rob them of a 50 per cent stake in a lucrative Sydney waste facility were “fundamentally incoherent”.
National law firm Sparke Helmore has denied allegations in a $1 million negligence lawsuit that it failed to properly advise a Shoal Bay property developer over the sale of two units in the coastal town, saying that it failed to receive the required instructions.
Law firm Gilbert + Tobin has won the dismissal of claims brought by businessmen Charif and Tarek Kazal over an alleged dishonest scheme to rob them of a 50 per cent stake in a lucrative Sydney waste facility that a judge said was “fundamentally incoherent”.
A Sydney-based law firm has been ordered to pay $1.4 million in damages for failing to properly advise a client of his rights under a partnership agreement after he suffered several strokes.
The daughter of Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has signalled an intention to appeal a decision staying proceedings against her mother for allegedly oppressive conduct in relation to the $4 billion family trust.