Judgment

A judge has rejected a bid by WA businessman and former Perth Glory owner Antony Sage to uncover external legal advice provided to the tax office in a dispute over an audit that went to the AAT, finding that reliance by the Tribunal on the material could endanger its independence.

A judge has signed off on a $18.5 million settlement in a six-year-old shareholder class action against Deloitte over its audits of collapsed construction group Hastie, saying the amount might be "disappointing" to group members but reflected the risks of going to trial.

A judge has allowed Care A2 Plus to proceed with an appeal arguing a US lawsuit by former business partner Gensco should be blocked, saying the infant formula company will otherwise face a “risk of substantial injustice”. 

Tech company SARB has won a stay of orders barring it from selling its sensor-based system which the city of Melbourne uses for timing parked vehicles, after a judge found it infringed rival Vehicle Management Systems’ patent.

A judge has awarded ex-commando Heston Russell $390,000 in damages over coverage of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, in the first ever post-trial judgment in a defamation case to consider the public interest defence.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought over a development in Melbourne’s north, citing “inordinate and inexcusable delay” on behalf of the collapsed developer and its builder, which replaced its solicitors seven times.

A judge has found that ANZ breached continuous disclosure rules by failing to disclose a $750 million bailout by underwriters Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and JP Morgan during its $2.5 billion equity capital raising in August 2015.

A court made valid orders for a Queensland solicitor to pay back $251,255 to the relative of a former client, an appeals court has found, saying that “exorbitant charging debases the reputation of the legal profession”.

A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the  government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.

The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement.