Sebastian Hartford Davis

A top in-house lawyer at Dexus has told a court the real estate asset manager was using an altered form of a non-disclosure agreement with bidders of a portion of its APAC bloc of shares without the approval of the airport operator's co-owners.

The court battle between APAC and major shareholder Dexus over the sale of an investor's stake in the airport operator went to a hearing this week, but it's the solicitors representing the warring parties that found themselves on trial.

Lawyers assured two Dexus executives that it was OK to share the confidential information of Melbourne Airport operator APAC with proposed purchasers of the real estate asset manager's stake in the company, a court has heard.

A judge has threatened to vacate the trial in Dexus’ case against Melbourne Airport operator APAC after all the defendants tried to file documents late, suggesting the lawyers may be hit with personal costs orders.

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.

The High Court has approved the imposition of additional land tax on non-residents and foreign-owned entities, finding that the Commonwealth government had the power to limit the application of international tax agreements.

A judge has dismissed a class action applicant’s claim that he was underpaid as a University of Sydney postgraduate student, but left for another day the question of whether the court should also make orders binding group members. 

The eSafety Commissioner has told the Full Court X Corp should not be able to use its merger with corporate predecessor Twitter to escape regulation.

A group costs order giving class action solicitors a percentage cut of the proceeds of a case is a factor in weighing whether proceedings should be transferred from Victoria to a state in which such an order could not operate, the High Court has ruled.

Are group costs orders a factor in deciding a bid to transfer a class action? Can the orders survive the move to an inhospitable state? These questions are to be decided by the High Court Wednesday, in a ruling that will clarify the relevance and reach of Victoria's contingency fee regime.