A self-represented aged pensioner has lost his bid to revive a class action against the Department of Social Services over its real estate asset testing for pensions, with a judge saying that a legal practitioner must represent group members.
The field of competitors in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Downer EDI over a $40 million profit overstatement has narrowed with the consolidation of three cases, leaving one firm to face criticism over its comparative inexperience running group proceedings.
The judge hearing a trial in defamation cases by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann against TV broadcasters ABC and Ten has said he expects both Lehrmann and alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins to take the witness stand.
A judge has refused infant formula company Care A2’s bid to block US business partner Gensco from filing a lawsuit in Florida that overlaps with a $200 million suit filed in Australian court over a deal to sell formula in the US amid a supply shortage.
A judge who found that Ben Roberts-Smith committed war crimes has recused himself from deciding whether the Office of the Special Investigator can access evidence in the former SAS corporal’s defamation case for its own investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan.
The judge hearing a lawsuit by senator Linda Reynolds against the partner of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins over allegedly defamatory social media posts has urged the parties to resolve the matter outside of court, citing the “psychological strain” and “emotional stress” of litigation.
A judge has blessed a $132.7 million settlement and a $33 million common fund order in a class action over toxic firefighting foam, saying he was “not vexed” by whether he had power to grant the funder’s payout despite the Full Court having reserved on the contentious issue.
ANZ has lodged an application asking the Australian Competition Tribunal to reverse the competition regulator’s rejection of its $4.9 billion tie-up with Queensland-based Suncorp.
NAB will fight a bid by a $78 million class action over the collapse of Walton Construction to add serious fraud allegations in the four-year-old case, which a judge said has been “mired in a procedural mess”.
Delivering on one of its enforcement priorities, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has taken two units of insurer IAG to court for allegedly misleading home owners insurance customers about loyalty discounts.