Queensland

A company owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer has lost its bid to temporarily block funding for a class action over the troubled Coolum Palmer Resort, with the Federal Court finding that special levies garnered from villa owners to back the proceedings were above board and legal.

The Fair Work Commission has dismissed a general protections dispute brought by an "agoraphobic" beautician after social media posts revealed an active social life including gin, Greek food and the Melbourne Cup.

A company owned by Clive Palmer has filed a lawsuit seeking to thwart a class action brought by villa owners in the billionaire's now abandoned Palmer Coolum Resort.

Clive Palmer and associated companies have been accused of unconscionable conduct and "moral obloquy" in a new $37.4 million class action by timeshare members of the billionaire's now abandoned Palmer Coolum Resort.

A prominent Queensland family has won almost $3.7 million in damages after a court found the Nine Network was "recklessly indifferent" to the truth of a 60 Minutes' report alleging the collapse of a wall at the family's quarry was to blame for floods that killed 12 people. 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants to investigate the conduct of a Worrells partner in relation to the winding up of Members Alliance Group, a group of property investment companies whose 2016 collapse stripped creditors of over $40 million and left its director facing fraud charges.

Ernst & Young, which is facing a lawsuit brought by the receiver of a fund overseen by failed financial services firm LM Investment Management, has lost its bid to file a claim for damages against LMIM, with a judge saying the auditor's case was "flawed" and "counterintuitive".

This month's decision by the Queensland Supreme Court confirming the validity of the class action funding business model in jurisdictions whose legislatures have not abolished the tort of maintenance and champerty is a landmark one, writes Piper Alderman partners Greg Whyte and Lillian Rizio.

James Cook University has followed through on its promise to appeal a $1.2 million judgment awarded against it for the unfair dismissal of physics professor and climate skeptic Peter Ridd.

The Queensland Supreme Court has upheld the legality of litigation funding agreements in a landmark class action judgment that could have a ripple effect across other states in Australia.