Andrew Barraclough

Facing claims it misled customers with its 'Down Down' pricing, Coles has urged the court not to second guess its judgment, but a judge overseeing the case has said competitive pressures do not excuse misleading promotions.

Coles changed its marketing policies after being concerned it could not compete with Woolworths, a court has heard on the first day of trial in the consumer regulator’s case over the supermarket's “utterly misleading” discounts.

A law firm that was set to argue that two firms formed an anti-competitive agreement in cooperating to run an ad tech class action against Google has dropped its appeal of its failed bid to run the representative case.

Piper Alderman claims a judge erred in finding there was no evidence that an agreement between Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald to cooperate in running an ad tech class action against Google was struck for an anti-competitive purpose.

A judge has approved a 33 per cent group costs order in a class action against Sportsbet, saying the relatively high rate was justified by the risks of running the “relatively novel case", which seeks repayment of gambling losses stemming from allegedly unlawful services.

Maurice Blackburn is seeking a 33 per cent cut of any settlement in a class action against Sportsbet, arguing that law firms "doing well" for themselves by running class actions is an inherent feature of the contingency fee scheme.

A judge that granted carriage of a Google ad tech class action to Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald has reiterated concerns that such cooperative arrangements between firms could breach competition law.

A judge has held off on orders requiring Maurice Blackburn to turn over financial information to Sportsbet in a class action over unlawful in-play betting, saying the parties should first confer on the issue of security for costs.

A $59 million settlement has been reached in a long-running class action accusing five major banks of foreign exchange rate-rigging.

CityLink plans to appeal a February decision that found it overcharged Eastlink operator ConnectEast for roaming fees to allow users to use both toll roads on one account.