Damien McAloon

A case launched by the directors of the defunct Melbourne Rebels against the club's administrators, which sought to avoid liability for players' PAYG tax, has been discontinued.

Trial has kicked off in the defunct super rugby team Melbourne Rebels' Federal Court fight against Rugby Australia, with the club accusing the league of a "cowardly betrayal".

A class action against United Petroleum by franchisees alleging they were forced to run loss-making Pie Face stores has found two funders to bankroll the case, one of which is based in Hong Kong.

A judge has ruled that lender Monland can recover a $39 million debt against the director of a property developer whose Hawthorn project encountered “severe difficulties”.

Twenty-one barristers in Victoria have won the title of senior counsel, including two class action lawyers from opposing sides of the bar table who have been involved in negotiating recent blockbuster settlements.

A judge has declined a creditor’s bid to wind up Victorian builder Roberts Construction Group, finding that the application relied on a “very modest” debt and involved a solicitor’s email “cast in threatening terms”. 

A Victorian construction company is fighting a bid by a creditor it says should not be allowed to “come out of the woodwork” and take over the winding up application of a company that has since been deregistered.

Collapsed Roberts Co Victoria will oppose a creditor’s bid for an extension in a case seeking to wind up the construction company, claiming it is “effectively on death row” and suffering reputational damage.

A franchisee class action against United Petroleum over alleged loss-making Pie Face stores has been ordered to hand over $3.7 million in security, with a judge finding it was not likely to stultify the class action.

The fact that at least three funders are open to backing a franchisee class action against United Petroleum should doom the class action's opposition to the petrol chain's bid for $2.3 million in security, a court has heard.