Two insurance brokers have dodged being dragged into class action proceedings against sandalwood producer Quintis to boost a settlement reached last year, as a fight over insurance owed to the company to cover the settlement continues.
The lead applicants in a $100 million class action against Gladstone Ports Corporation have lost their bid to shield an expert loss report from being revealed in an upcoming mediation.
IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees failed to drag law firm Sparke Helmore into a case after it was hit with a $76.6 million judgment over breaches of duty in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.
An upcoming class action trial over alleged side effects resulting from the Hendra virus horse vaccine, which will commence shortly after a COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out in Australia, will raise “timely” issues concerning vaccine safety, a judge has heard.
A lawsuit seeking to increase D&O insurance for sandalwood producer Quintis in the wake of a class action settlement has fallen short of the $40 million in additional coverage sought, but a Federal Court decision may see a further $11.25 million go to group members.
Fonterra has hit back at claims in a class action that the dairy giant misled farmers and breached its supply agreements when it slashed milk prices and sought a clawback in 2016, saying it warned farmers of the “extreme” volatility in the market.
The managing partner of a Brisbane-based law firm has failed to shut down a bid for compensation brought in disciplinary proceedings filed by the Legal Services Commissioner, which is seeking damages identical to those sought in a separate negligence case by a client.
Lawyers for the lead applicant in a stayed class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto over its weedkiller Roundup cannot access discovered documents in a separate class action against the agricultural giant in advance of mediation next year.
Advanta Seeds has been denied more time to pay renewal fees for its patent for a hybrid plant cell after correspondence from its lawyers about the renewal was sent to employees that had left the company and the patent renewal fell through the cracks during a 2016 systems upgrade.
Murray Goulburn’s former managing director Gary Helou and chief financial officer Brad Hingle have been disqualified from heading up companies after they were found to have breached the Corporations Act for their role in the milk supplier’s repeated failure to disclose an expected material decrease in the milk supplier’s earnings guidance for 2016.