Settlement

The funders that bankrolled a securities class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson will ask the court to give them an $8 million cut of a $40 million settlement. A further $12 million in legal fees means shareholders will get 50 per cent of the settlement sum.

The Sydney Opera House Trust has resolved a long-running dispute accusing a China trade group of committing flagrant copyright infringement by reproducing substantial portions of the iconic landmark's trade mark-protected sail design in its logo.

Group members will walk away with nothing under a settlement in a seven-year old class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on behalf of borrowers who claimed they were forced to default on their commercial loans.

The ABC and a News Corp unit agreed to pay $445,000 to settle defamation claims by Bruce Lehrmann over allegations that he raped fellow Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House. 

The applicant in a nine-year-old class action over the government's 2011 live exports ban has urged the Commonwealth to pay up to $900 million to settle the case, after earlier settlement efforts flopped.

A judge has signed off on a $26 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Ardent Leisure over the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy, including $7.8 million for the funder that backed the case and $5 million in legal costs.

A protracted class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia brought by borrowers who claimed they were forced to default on their commercial loans has finally settled, a court has heard. 

AMP has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class action by financial advisers over its buyer of last resort policy, after suffering a loss at trial.

Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has settled his defamation case against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over coverage of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins on the first day of trial, with proceedings to continue against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.