Companies

A judge has denied a law firm's bid to stay a rival's closed shareholder class action against construction giant Boral but warned courts must be alive to the potential for conflicts where lawyers stand to reap "very significant financial awards" from class action proceedings.

The Full Federal Court has found that Liberty Mutual Insurance, but not QBE, is required to cover Icon Construction's losses stemming from the Opal Tower disaster, which has caused the builder $31 million in losses.

Media company Nine, which is facing defamation claims from Ben Roberts-Smith over articles accusing him of war crimes, has asked the court to set aside two subpoenas from the decorated veteran related to a woman who has accused him of domestic violence, arguing the subpoenas act as a substitute for discovery.

A Sydney law firm that brought a class action against Boston Scientific over allegedly defective pelvic mesh products has agreed to stay its case while a class action by Shine Lawyers moves ahead.

The lead applicant in a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against superannuation provider Colonial First State wants the Full Court to determine whether group members still have valid claims, after a judgment from the Victoria Supreme Court shut down a similar class action last year.

With $254 million at stake, Westpac wants a court order blocking the business partner of Forum Group founder Bill Papas from leaving Australia, as Papas remains in Greece while fraud allegations swirl.

Noting that the legal costs of a dispute over whether she could represent federal minister Christian Porter in his defamation case were "substantial", Sue Chrysanthou SC has asked to see invoices before she agrees to a lump sum bill of $550,000.

Thorn Group is the latest lender ensnared in an alleged $400 million fraud by Forum Finance, with potential funds of up to $2.2 million tied up in the collapsed equipment leasing firm.

Four witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed man off a cliff in Afghanistan will give evidence next week in the war veteran’s defamation trial, which has been disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions in NSW.

Merck Sharp & Dohme has filed a lawsuit accusing rival drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb of misusing its market power by restricting access to a treatment program for stage IV melanoma patients.