Judgment

A class action against Bayer over its Essure device has won court approval to add new allegations, including that the contraceptive caused sexual dysfunction, with a judge finding the new claims could not have taken the German drug maker by surprise.

Nine has defeated a bid to strike out its truth defences in a defamation case by a Melbourne hairdresser alleging a segment on 'A Current Affair' about 'internet trolls' and subsequent comments on the program’s Facebook page defamed her.

A Chinese crypto miner has won its equipment back, for now, after a Melbourne business it charged with looking after the machines allegedly allowed four other businesses to access them, culminating in a five-way stoush involving an ambulance and police.

A judge has approved a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers, but the slice for the law firm running the action and its litigation funder remains to be determined amid allegations of negligence by the former lead applicant in the case.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has lost its challenge to a decision that tossed its case alleging NSW Ports stymied competition when it signed a 50-year agreement with the state to privatise two ports. 

Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have been hit with $6 million in penalties for violating consumer credit protections laws, including by failing to respond to financial hardship notices from debtors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An appeals court has thrown out a $285,000 negligence judgment against Sparke Helmore over two sales contracts worth $1.5 million and rejected a NSW developer’s attempts to squeeze the law firm for a heftier damages bill.

A judge has declined to stay a class action against BPS Financial, the issuer of cryptocurrency Qoin, in light of similar ASIC proceedings.

Agricultural giant Nufarm has lost its appeal of a decision giving rival Advanta Seeds extra time to pay a renewal fee for its patent for a hybrid plant cell, after an error by its lawyers caused the renewal to fall through the cracks.

The High Court has thrown out laws that banned unions and other third parties from spending more than $20,000 on political campaigns ahead of a New South Wales state election in March.