Energy & Natural Resources
Acciona may have ‘difficulty’ persuading court in spat over $696M Kwinana project
A judge has granted a 21-day stay of a lawsuit brought by Acciona, a Spanish infrastructure company seeking to use COVID-19 as a reason to back out of its construction contract for the $696 million Kwinana waste-to-energy plant, and has warned the company it faces a difficult task to persuade the court of its case.
Franchise
Freshii takes Aussie master franchiser to court over unpaid bills
Canadian fast food restaurant Freshii is suing its Australian master franchiser for alleged "extensive failures" to pay what was owed under the franchising agreement and a decision to open eight restaurants in Australia without permission.
Class Actions
Threat of class action reform prompts rush to court
Fearing passage of a contentious bill in parliament that threatens to curb open class actions, plaintiffs law firms and funders have raced to court with new cases in the past two weeks.
Employment
More casuals class actions to be dropped in wake of High Court’s Rossato decision
Two law firms are seeking court approval to drop class actions brought on behalf of allegedly misclassified casual coal miners, in light of a High Court decision that "radically" decreased their chances of success.
Coronavirus
Virgin Australia tweaks COVID-19 vaccination policy to resolve union lawsuit
Virgin Australia has walked back part of its COVID-19 vaccination policy after the union representing aircraft maintenance engineers received hundred of complaints about the requirement that they provide their Individual Health Identifier as part of proof of their vaccination status.
Legal Ethics
Banksia-inspired conflicts of interest regulations quietly take effect
Spurred by the Banksia class action scandal, the Federal government has implemented new regulations requiring litigation funders to manage conflicts of interest that arise when the lawyers acting on a class action have a "material financial interest" in the funder that's running it.
Class Actions
Morrison government hit with class action over white spot disease outbreak
The federal government is facing a class action over alleged biosecurity breaches that led to the 2016 outbreak of white spot disease in South-East Queensland, which decimated the region’s commercial prawn industry.
Financial Services
ANZ faces new class action over retrospective interest on credit cards
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has been hit with a class action for having “unfair” terms in its credit card contracts that allegedly gave the bank the right to charge account holders retrospective interest.
Competition & Consumer Protection
ACCC updated policies on witnesses after ‘flawed’ bank cartel probe, court hears
A senior ACCC officer was probed Tuesday on whether the competition regulator updated its guidelines for taking witness statements in July in response to criticism of investigators' methods in the cartel probe over ANZ's $2.5 billion share placement.
Class Actions
PwC strikes back in class action over $50M Axsesstoday prospectus
Professional services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers has hit back at a class action over a $50 million prospectus for Axsesstoday, filing a cross-claim against the asset finance lender and saying it “takes no responsibility” for allegedly defective offer documents.
