James Hutton

A judge has rejected Hall & Wilcox's bid to narrow the terms of the court's inquiry into whether legal advice it provided to defunct construction group Hastie was reasonable, before a costs assessor weighs in on the firm's $18.6 million legal bill. 

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.

A Shine Lawyers-run class action over norovirus outbreaks on the Sun Princess cruise ship is cutting two of eight cruises from its case, a change set to affect up to 2,000 group members.

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.

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.

Liquidators for defunct construction group Hastie have launched a bid in its Federal Court case against Hall & Wilcox to refer a $18.6 million bill from the law firm to a costs assessor.

A NSW appeals court has found objectors have no right to weigh in on development applications once they reach conciliation in the Land and Environment Court, and that judges don't have to consider all material before the court. 

A court has found that a minister's decision to sell a section of Crown land to a buyer intending to carve it into 15 lots was made in breach of planning laws. 

A judge wants more information before allowing Acciona employees to access documents from the company's Swiss rival and co-defendant in a dispute over the receivership of the East Rockingham waste-to-energy project. 

Hall & Wilcox has struck back at proceedings by the liquidators for collapsed construction group Hastie, saying they have failed to specify why its $18.6 million legal bill incurred in suing two dozen builders is unreasonable.