Christine Ernst

Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart could be on the hook for millions of dollars in royalty payments, in a long-running battle over lucrative iron ore mining tenements in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

A long-running class action over the construction of the Sydney light rail that was revived by the High Court is heading to mediation, with a judge noting the challenges that lie ahead in determining all the claims of group members if the parties don't settle.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is on the hook for royalties payable to the heirs of iron ore pioneers Don Rhodes and Peter Wright, a judge has held in a long-running battle over lucrative tenements in the Pilbara region.

A senior in-house lawyer at Dexus has rejected suggestions she was “careless” in her role in the sale of shares in Melbourne Airport operator APAC, saying she relied on a subordinate lawyer and others within the business. 

Lawyers assured two Dexus executives that it was OK to share the confidential information of Melbourne Airport operator APAC with proposed purchasers of the real estate asset manager's stake in the company, a court has heard.

The Commonwealth Bank has avoided a separate hearing over its cross-appeal in shareholder class actions that have reached the High Court.

In the latest chapter of a bitter feud between NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and District Court Judge Penelope Wass, the state's Court of Appeal has found parliamentary privilege doesn't bar the top prosecutor from launching a recusal bid in a criminal trial.

Real estate asset manager Dexus has won access to advice given by the lawyers of two shareholders of airport operator APAC over an alleged breach of a shareholder deed. 

Russia has lost its High Court challenge to the federal government’s decision to terminate its lease on a site where it intended to build a new embassy in Canberra, but the court found the Commonwealth must pay the country reasonable compensation. 

Engineering firm GHD Australia, which has recently been joined to a class action over a bus crash in NSW’s Hunter Valley that killed 10 passengers, has flagged bringing its own cross-claims.