Judges

The Victorian government is seeking summary dismissal of a class action alleging government curfews put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic were unlawful, arguing the case was filed out of time.

Hearing a fight over $40 million in costs in a case over the sale of Dexus shares in Australia Pacific Airport Corporation, a judge has said he doubts the airport operator can recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a media consultant during the dispute.

The former director of Villawood Management is calling for a further stay of a ruling greenlighting the land developer's bid to provide litigation documents to the Australian Federal Police for investigation of alleged criminal activity.

A songwriter who is suing Universal Music over royalties has dodged the music company's bid for $150,000 in security, with a judge finding the artist's claim that he could release an album to fund the litigation amounted to "puffery".

A Sydney barrister has been found guilty of contempt in a fight with his chambers over $112,000 in alleged unpaid fees after he failed to follow court orders to hand over his financial documents and did not explain why he had not filed tax returns since 2016.

Former CEO and chairman of budget airline Rex Lim Kim Hai has been hit with a $800,000 penalty and a four-year disqualification order for admitted breaches of his continuous disclosure obligations.

A judge overseeing the Hunter Valley bus crash class action has questioned why “reputable law firms” have failed to comply with discovery orders, and warned he might pull a Hammerschlag and give the applicants everything.

The litigation funder that bankrolled two class actions against Toyota, which settled this month for a record $750 million, faces a grilling by the Federal Court over its proposed commission -- the largest payout ever sought in an Australian class action.

Radio host Jackie O Henderson is challenging broadcaster ARN Media’s claims of legal professional privilege over documents relating to a workplace investigation following her on-air clash with former co-host Kyle Sandilands, arguing the dominant purpose of the investigation was not to obtain legal advice.

The liquidators of the Tahmoor coal mine want to restrain Norton Rose Fulbright from acting for two companies linked to Sanjeev Gupta, a court has heard.