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In class action defence, Monash IVF says patients ‘knew the risks’ of embryo testing
Monash IVF has hit back at a class action brought on behalf of hundreds of men and women demanding damages for the alleged destruction of potentially viable embryos, saying patients “were made aware of the risks” of a novel testing technique.
Fees, commission to eat up almost half of $25M Fonterra class action settlement
Group members in a class action against Fonterra are set to reap about $13 million from a $25 million settlement reached with the dairy company, following deductions including the costs of the litigation funder’s after-the-event insurance.
Amid push for reforms, judges refuse to recuse themselves time and again
Requests by litigants for judges to disqualify themselves from presiding over cases were largely denied last year, in a raft of decisions containing lessons for litigants weighing up their own recusal bids in 2023.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth practice leader defects to rival, taking team of six
A Corrs Chambers Westgarth veteran known for his work defending the Catholic Church has left the law firm for rival Wotton + Kearney, taking with him a number of senior associates as well as the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.
Appeals court sets aside arbitration award in Chevron gas field dispute
An appeals court has dismissed an appeal from two contractors who worked on Chevron's Gorgon gas field project who allege they were underpaid over $130 million by the energy giant.
Departing ASIC commissioner to head Vanguard’s in-house legal team
ASIC commissioner Sean Hughes will step down next month after taking a role with investment manager Vanguard – which paid a $40,000 fine to the corporate watchdog just last month.
Judicial commission would be ‘protective, not disciplinary’, government says
The Albanese government is inviting submissions on a federal judicial commission tasked with dealing with alleged misconduct by judges, saying the commission will strive for transparency and will not adopt a disciplinary model.
From $2.8M win to just $6,000, Microsoft’s case against computer retailer crashes to earth
Microsoft has won a pittance for copyright infringement but copped a “substantial costs order” in its six-year-old intellectual property suit against a Melbourne computer retailer over its Windows 7 software, which previously netted the Silicon Valley giant a $2.8 million payout from Judge Sandy Street that was slammed as a "regrettable" judicial failure.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting can’t halt case pending arbitration in 20-year feud
Hancock Prospecting has lost a bid to shut down court cases brought by fellow mining giants Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes until the outcome of a family arbitration, after a judge found the company’s own forensic choices made the risk of inconsistent decisions inevitable.
Former KWM solicitor, now judge, won’t recuse herself from United Petroleum case
A judge who previously acted for a United Petroleum Group company in a “highly acrimonious” case eight years ago has refused to recuse herself from adjudicating a new dispute involving a related company.