Barristers

A leading competition law barrister has been appointed as the federal government’s chief legal advisor, with the government’s kids social media ban and attacks on hate speech laws to be among her early challenges. 

Transport for New South Wales is mulling an appeal of a ruling that ordered it to pay an additional $28.6 million for land acquired to build the M12 motorway to the new Western Sydney Airport. 

Vietnamese airline VietJet has lost its bid to set aside a US$215 million judgment in favour of aircraft leasing company FW Aviation, in a dispute over a lease agreement for four Airbus A321 passenger jets.

A judge has said he will not be able to decide all the suppression applications in the ACCC’s misuse of market power case against Mastercard ahead of trial, saying the court was facing an “unreasonable, if not oppressive” burden.

Pharmacor is resisting AstraZeneca’s notice to produce in an intellectual property fight over diabetes drug Forxiga, claiming privilege over material evidencing its consideration of a new claim challenging the validity of a patent extension.

A former RAMS franchisee has raised concerns about a joint trial of its case with a related class action against the defunct Westpac home loan subsidiary, saying the overlap between the cases may be “much less than advertised”.

Rideshare giant Uber is not a passive intermediary between drivers and riders, the NSW Office of State Revenue has told the High Court in a case over $81 million in payroll tax, but controls trips via its platform "from start to finish".

Questioning of the first witness in Dexus' case against Melbourne Airport's operator was an hour in when trial was halted by the judge, who complained of flying by the seat of his pants, documentary evidence-wise.

German car hire company SIXT has attacked the Darwin International airport owner's construction of their lease contract in a $1.9 million spat over the appropriate formula for rent calculations, saying it was trying to have the "best of both worlds".

Trial in a case by the Wilderness Society challenging Santos' plans for its Reindeer gas field kicked off Tuesday, with counsel for the activist group saying the energy giant needed to show it coud cover decommissioning costs.