Barrister Norman O’Bryan SC has abandoned his defence of misconduct allegations stemming from the Banksia Securities class action and expressed contrition to the court for his actions.
Media companies that are fighting defamation proceedings over articles that accused decorated war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith of war crimes have won court permission to amend their defence to include evidence the soldier was involved in another alleged murder.
Sydney businessmen Charif and Tarek Kazal have appealed a ruling that found their claims against Gilbert + Tobin over an alleged dishonest scheme to rob them of a 50 per cent stake in a lucrative Sydney waste facility were “fundamentally incoherent”.
Lawyers running a class action against recycling company Sims Metal Management say the court has power to approve their bid to amend the group member definition that will effectively close the class, but the judge overseeing the case will appoint a contradictor to represent group members in a hearing over the application.
A judge has shut down a former Qantas customer service manager’s bid to pursue a disability discrimination case against Maurice Blackburn alleging the law firm put pressure on her to settle her workers compensation case against the airline.
A judge has handed ASIC a “narrow” win in its action against former Tennis Australia director Harold Mitchell, tossing most of the regulator’s case and accusing it of “confirmatory bias”.
The judge overseeing a trial over legal fees and funding commission in the Banksia Securities class action has questioned whether the lawyers behind the case should remain on the roll of practitioners if allegations of misconduct aired in the hearing so far — which include billing for phantom costs — are made out.
Liquidators for collapsed steel and mining giant Arrium have successfully appealed a court ruling permitting the examination of a former director for a possible shareholder class action, with the Court of Appeal for the NSW Supreme Court finding the “private nature” of the claims was an abuse of process.
A judge has narrowed discovery in a class action against the Commonwealth of Australia over allegedly unlawful Robodebt payments, criticising the lead applicants for persisting with an approach to discovery that “was not a particularly helpful one”.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has come up short in its challenge to a ruling that dismissed its case against TPG over contract terms that allowed the internet provider to keep customers’ unused prepaid funds on phone or internet plans.