Delays in court approval of settlements in their pelvic mesh class actions against US giants Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific have been blamed for Shine Lawyers’ 89.39 per cent decline in net profits for 2023.
Star Entertainment coughed up $595 million in regulatory and legal costs in the 2023 financial year, as it faces ongoing disputes with ASIC and AUSTRAC and an $80 million class action.
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.
South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie has been hit with an employment suit by a former staffer who says she was subjected to “a course of bullying behaviour” by the MP that culminated in a stress-related hospitalisation and left her unable to work.
A referee will calculate individual damages for 290 former Royal Australian Navy sailors after failed attempts at a settlement in a class action against the Department of Defence, in which a judge ruled the government owed compensation.
The federal government has announced a new competition taskforce supported by a former ACCC chair that will look into reforms of the country’s merger laws, market concentration and non-compete employee clauses.
The legal community has welcomed the appointment of Justice Stephen Gageler to be the 14th chief justice of the High Court, praising the judge for his “deep humanity” and unmatchable expertise in constitutional law.
The legal sector has welcomed NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Beech-Jones’ elevation to the highest court in Australia, with former colleagues noting his legal acumen and generosity.
In a unanimous decision, the Council of the Law Society of NSW has become the latest lawyers’ body to lend its support to the Voice.
Jones Day has added a corporate transactions counsel who spent 12 years working in New York, most recently at Latham & Watkins LLP, to join its Sydney team.