The High Court has agreed to hear a challenge by Westpac to a ruling in favour of ASIC that found the bank violated its duty to act in customers’ best interests during a superannuation rollover campaign, a case that could clarify the line between personal and general financial advice.
Communications giant Optus has become the first telco to be hit with a class action for breach of privacy, with 50,000 customers seeking compensation for disclosure of their personal details.
A judge has vacated the next stage of an intellectual property fight between Motorola and Hytera Communications because of laws prohibiting witnesses located in China from giving unauthorised evidence via videolink, rejecting a “highly experimental procedural remedy” proposed by Motorola.
The funder behind the Banksia Securities class action has failed in a bid to have an outstanding case over legal fees and its commission sent to mediation, with a judge saying the issues for trial involve allegations against lawyers of serious misconduct not appropriate for closed-door negotiations.
The judge presiding over the settlement approval hearing in a shareholder class action against telecommunications company Vocus Group has questioned whether the High Court’s recent ruling striking down common fund orders at the outset of class actions would allow him to make such an order at settlement.
Passengers on a European river cruise operated by Scenic Tours can claim damages for disappointment after they were forced to take buses for most of their luxury tour, the High Court has ruled.
The administrators of Virgin Australia will not have to pay the troubled carrier’s aircraft and other lease payments, after a court granted them a temporary exemption from liability.
Repeated suggestions of a planned strike out application are being used as a “threat” by four AMP subsidiaries and two trustees in a consolidated class action over allegedly excessive superannuation fees, a court has heard.
A ruling Wednesday that struck down class closure orders — a device used by judges in class actions for the past two decades — has split the courts in Australia and is expected to head to the High Court.
Voluntary administration was the only option for Virgin, and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the airline’s decline could present a unique opportunity for the administrators to push the boundaries of corporations law, according to insolvency experts.