A law firm has dodged a $6.5 million negligence claim by a Tasmanian agricultural business over advice supplied about agreements entered into with a division of collapsed forestry giant Gunns Limited, with a judge slamming the company director’s evidence as “rambling and non-responsive”.
The judge overseeing three class actions against the Commonwealth alleging contamination from the use of toxic firefighting foam at three naval bases has shot down the plaintiffs’ bid for a formal communication reminding two referees of their role in the proceedings.
A court has slashed the costs awarded to a Tucker & Cowen name partner in a lawsuit brought by the liquidators of failed fund manager Equititrust, citing a recent High Court ruling that found self-represented lawyers cannot recover their own expenses.
Companies and other defendants forked over big sums last year to settle more than 20 class actions, with a total of at least $734 million being paid out. Here are the top 10 class action settlements and the law firms and funders that negotiated them.
The Full Federal Court has provided clarity around additional damages in patent cases by reducing the penalties liable to be paid by an Australian fencing and gate manufacturer found to have infringed a rival’s patent for a fence base.
A court has allowed a bankruptcy trustee to drop an “extremely disadvantageous” litigation funding agreement, which provided the funder with an 85 per cent commission, previously signed to pursue a Perth-based engineering and construction company.
A judge has given his seal of approval to a $29 million settlement that resolves a class action over Radio Rentals’ Rent, Try, $1 Buy scheme alleging customers were kept in the dark about the true cost of their rentals.
The High Court has granted special leave to cartridge reseller Calidad after the company lost an intellectual property dispute with printer giant Seiko Epson and was hit with a general injunction barring it from further patent infringement.
The property developers behind two Canberra apartment complexes have been dealt a partial loss in two class actions against them, with a judge finding the developers misled the lead applicants about the GST payable on their units but that only some of them were entitled to compensation or restitution.
Former senator David Leyonhjelm is appealing a ruling that socked him with a $120,000 damages bill in a defamation case brought by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, and has hired a new solicitor to bring the challenge.