Maurice Blackburn’s battle with the Australian Taxation Office over a tax bill on class action settlements for thousands of Black Saturday bushfire victims went to court Tuesday, and the landmark case may turn on whether or not the law firm’s administration of the settlement distribution scheme counts as a business.
A court has signed off on a $2.6 million settlement in a class action against Endeavour Energy and two other companies over the 2013 Mt Victoria bushfires that will leave class members empty-handed.
The Federal Court has thrown out a proposed $35 million settlement between ASIC and Westpac over responsible lending breaches, saying the agreement was “unworkable” and left the court in an “information vacuum”.
Drug maker Neurim Pharmaceuticals is battling to amend its Australian patent for the blockbuster sleeping pill Circadin over opposition from two generic pharmaceutical companies, which have accused Neurim of attempting to gain an unfair advantage by delaying the amendment bid until now.
Litigation funder Regency Funding has sought leave to intervene as a major player in one of two challenges to the courts’ powers to issue common fund orders in class actions, but it might have a fight on its hands.
An attempt by Crown Resorts to block ex-employees from talking to class action lawyers about the casino giant’s thwarted business in China was contrary to the public interest, a judge heard Monday.
AFT Pharmaceuticals has been ordered to pull advertisements for its painkiller Maxigesic after the Federal Court ruled in favour of rival Reckitt Benckiser, finding the ads breached Australian Consumer Law.
Westpac has been ordered to pay a $3.3 million penalty for engaging in unconscionable conduct when it traded in bank bills in an attempt to influence the benchmark Bank Bill Swap Rate on four occasions, with a Federal Court judge admitting the fine was “inadequate.”
A judge has shot down a bid by Clive Palmer to block the liquidators of Queensland Nickel from making enquiries as to the whereabouts of his fugitive nephew, the sole registered director of the refinery when it collapsed.
Two far-reaching appeals challenging the court’s power to order all members of an open class action to pay a litigation funder will be heard together, and soon, the Federal Court’s top judge said Thursday.