Companies

AFT Pharmaceuticals has suffered another blow over its Maxigesic advertisements, with a judge finding the marketing material misled consumers by claiming to provide better, faster and more effective pain relief than paracetamol or ibuprofen.

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.

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.

Shine Lawyers is investigating two new class actions against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac's BT Funds Management over allegedly excessive insurance premiums, a week after filing a similar case against AMP's life insurance arm.

Google and Facebook will face penalties of at least $10 million for breaches of a media bargaining code drafted by the ACCC that aims to create a "level playing field" between Australian media companies and the tech giants.

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.

AMP has been hit with a cliass action by a group of financial planners over changes to its buyer of last resort policy last year, which cut the number of authoried advisers and retreated from a promise to buy back their businesses at a price based on a set multiple.

The Murray Goulburn class action has been cited repeatedly in the current parliamentary inquiry into class actions and litigation funding. For some, the return generated by Omni Bridgeway, which funded the action, is Exhibit A in the case that litigation funders make too much money. To others – including the one person in the best position to judge – it is nothing of the sort, says Clive Bowman of Omni Bridgeway.

Telstra has filed a lawsuit accusing Singtel Optus of breaching the Australia Consumer Law through ads that claim it is "covering more of Australia than ever before".