A judge has avoided a fight “with the High Court written all over it” over whether an investor class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY can join four insurers to the case.
Insurers Suncorp and AAMI have back-paid $32 million to thousands of employees who were underpaid over a period of almost eight years. The insurers will also make a $520,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth as part of an enforceable undertaking entered into with the Fair Work Ombudsman. Suncorp underpaid over 15,800 employees between May 2014…
A regional law firm has lost its bid to bar a former employee from opening a rival practice within a 50 kilometre radius of its offices while its case is ongoing, with a judge saying the case raised a “real issue” of reasonableness, especially in light of a lawyer shortage in the town.
Seven Network has lost its effort to stop convenience chain 7-Eleven from using a contested logo even though Seven had registered the trade mark first, with a court finding the broadcaster sat on the mark for too long before using it.
A declassing bid by nine doctors in a class action on behalf of women allegedly injured by a one-size-fits-all approach to breast implant surgeries must apply to the entire proceeding, not just the claims against them, a court has heard.
Johnson Winter Slattery has appointed senior tax specialist Don Spirason, former Vice President of Tax at BHP, as a special counsel based in Melbourne. Spirason joins JWS with more than 20 years’ tax experience, including more than 10 years at BHP and 5 years at Foster’s Group. Beginning his career at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, he…
Cruise operator Scenic Tours has agreed to settle a long-running class action with travellers who were promised a “once in a lifetime cruise along the grand waterways of Europe” but were instead forced to take the bus, after almost ten years of litigation that went all the way to the High Court.
A judge has questioned an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, resolving to appoint a contradictor and a costs referee amid a dispute between the plaintiff law firm and its litigation funder, which the court heard has “grave concerns” about the costs incurred in the case.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer and his company Mineralogy have lost a bid to block subpoenas asking their advisors to hand over information regarding the sale of Townville’s Yabulu nickel and cobalt refinery, as part of a $1.8 billion fight over the value of the site.
A report alleging that the ATO asked the Tax Practitioner Board to curtail its investigation of a PwC tax leaks scandal was “fundamentally misleading”, a senior tax official has said.