Daniel Farinha

A mid-trial fight has erupted in a class action over the collapse of steelmaker Arrium, with the company's auditor and directors saying the case had swerved, and the plaintiff accusing the respondents of "playing games".

KPMG has told a judge there is no evidence that Arrium's share price would have changed even if it had recorded a $2.8 billion impairment, urging the judge to reject the shareholder class action's "intuitive" case on loss. 

Former directors of steelmaker Arrium have rejected shareholder class action claims that the company's collapse was foreseeable, calling claims they had their heads in the sand “arrant nonsense”. 

KPMG failed to bring the necessary scepticism to the task of auditing failing steel manufacturer Arrium, instead leaving contradictory evidence unresolved and giving the company a clean bill of health, a shareholder class action has told the court.

A shareholder class action against KPMG and ex-Arrium directors says the company's accounts were infected by "chronic and systemic overoptimism", with the former operator of Whyalla Steelworks portraying as viable a business that was impaired up to $2.8 billion.

As proof of its popularity as a class action jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Victoria will hear opening submissions in three class action trials on Monday, an unprecedented number in a single day for the court.

A judge has allowed a 50 per cent fee uplift for counsel in an epic fight over lucrative tenements in the Pilbara region, but says the hourly fees of solicitors from the likes of Allens, Clayton Utz and Corrs were already well above market rate.

US drug maker Cosette wants to strike out Mayne Pharma's causation pleading in its suit seeking damages after Cosette allegedly inducing the treasurer to reject their $672 million tie-up.

Engineering firm Clough Projects Australia has lost its challenge to a judge's decision that stayed a $55 million cross-claim against former EnergyConnect joint venture partner Elecnor but kept Elecnor's case alive.

Kicking off its appeal of a finding that it couldn't walk away from a $672 million merger agreement with Mayne Pharma, US drug company Cosette has told a court that Mayne was not upfront about its financial position prior to the deal.