Ben Hancock

The liquidators for Halifax Investment Services were justified in reaching a compromise settlement in proceedings against King & Wood Mallesons alleging the firm and former auditor Bentleys failed to advise the defunct stockbroker that it had to hold client funds used to trade on its online platform on trust, a judge has found.

The runner-up in a contest to administer Johnson & Johnson’s $300 million settlement of two pelvic mesh class actions has lost a challenge to a decision awarding the prize to the team of Slater & Gordon, BDO and the firm of former Shine Lawyers solicitor Jan Saddler.

A battle with the competition regulator over the proposed ANZ, Suncorp tie-up has begun, with the first clash involving a group of rival lenders that want their submissions to the ACCC kept under lock and key.

The receivers of Melissa Caddick’s estate have reached an in-principle agreement with the Sydney frauster’s husband and son in relation to the division of a small number of remaining assets.

Shine Lawyers has lost its bid to recover $32 million in interest on a loan it took out to run two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson, with a judge finding it would make a “marginal settlement less than reasonable”.

The judge overseeing the receivership of Melissa Caddick’s estate has pushed off a dispute about a collection of sneakers held by the deceased fraudster’s teenaged son, including one pair that could be worth up to $12,000.

Shine Lawyers’ bid to recoup “exorbitant” interest on a loan it took out to run pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has raised new ethical dilemmas beyond the usual “sweaty palms and huge vexation” in most group proceedings, a judge has said.

A judge has criticised HWL Ebsworth’s discovery efforts and ordered the law firm to try again in the firm’s dispute with a former partner claiming the company cut him out of a proposed ASX float in 2020. 

The judge weighing the legal costs sought to be deducted from a $300 million settlement in pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has questioned Shine Lawyers’ bid to make group members pay $32 million in interest incurred on a loan the firm took out at “credit card” rates.

The parents of deceased fraudster Melissa Caddick will take $950,000 to move out of a multi-million dollar property in Sydney’s East, which will now be sold by receivers.