Geoffrey Kozminsky

Grand Ridge Plantations has lost an appeal seeking to halve the official valuation of its Gippsland timber forest, with a court finding that the trees on the land must be included in its assessed value.

The judge overseeing the Robodebt class action, which settled this month for a record $548.5 million, may put the settlement administration role out to tender, saying the sum earmarked for the job was "staggeringly large".

A class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme has settled for $548.5 million, the largest class action settlement in Australia’s history, on the back of damning revelations in a royal commission report released after the class action originally settled for $112 million. 

The Valuer-General of Victoria has won a High Court appeal against developer WSTI Properties over a $2.9 million valuation for a heritage property in Melbourne, which centred on the meaning of an “improvement” to the land. 

Mercedes-Benz has taken aim at an amended group definition in a class action over alleged defeat devices designed to cheat emissions testing, with a judge agreeing that it contains "ambiguities and circularities".

Class action settlements leaped in value last year, with three settlements topping the $200 million mark.

A judge has balked at a suggestion by group members appealing a $112 million Robodebt class action settlement that the Commonwealth could represent the interests of people content with the deal.

A novel bid to appeal the $112 million Robodebt class action settlement and bring new claims off the back of damning revelations in a royal commission report faces “significant hurdles”, a judge has said.

A judge has signed off on a class action settlement that will see Retail Food Group pay nothing to the current and former franchisees of its Michel’s Patisserie chain.

A former EY partner and ousted board member at National Tiles has been ordered to pay indemnity costs after he lost a $1 million share dispute with the flooring company, with a judge finding he "unreasonably failed" to accept a settlement offer.