Judges

A judge has refused to strike out claims of serious harm in a defamation case by a pro-Israel activist against the owner of Sydney restaurant Cairo Takeaway, finding the activist did not need to plead to his prior reputation.

A judge has questioned the tiered structure of a group costs order sought by the law firm running a class action against Mineral Resources, but the firm argued Wednesday it would need the highest rate if a flat fee were ordered.

The parties in a class action against agricultural giant GrainCorp over alleged noise and odour pollution from a factory in rural Victoria have failed to seal the deal on a settlement reached last month.

Wealth manager Colonial First State Investments and insurer AIA have reached a $140 million settlement in a long-running class action alleging 700,000 superannuation members were charged inflated premiums on insurance products linked to former owner CBA.

Law firm Gillis Delaney has defeated a bid for third-party costs by a warehouse management software company that was named in an intellectual property dispute, with a judge rejecting claims the firm was not authorised to act and acted unreasonably. 

Owners of apartments in Sydney's One Central Park have been ordered to pay Frasers' costs in defending a suit that sought declarations in relation to defective planter boxes on the building's façade.

Meriton has won summary dismissal of a security concierge's Fair Work claims, with a judge finding the case had no prospects of success.

The managing director of the Australian arm of property developer Arada has lost his bid to bar a vote on his termination as he and the group's CEO sling allegations of misconduct and dishonesty. 

The tax commissioner has suffered a major loss in a dispute with Malaysian power company YTL Power over a $948 million capital gain from the sale of its stake in South Australia-based ElectraNet in 2022.

Isuzu has lost an appeal bid to shut down a lawsuit by car alarm company Directed Electronics over alleged trade secrets theft, after an earlier case left it with a $169 million damages bill.