Seeking to quash search orders won by metals company Fortescue against former employees who founded a green iron rival, a lawyer for the start-up has said three terabytes of data were indiscriminately copied, including confidential, privileged and irrelevant material.
Four insurers have argued that class actions over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic should be de-classed, with one insurer saying group members cannot “go behind” a Full Court decision denying coverage for certain policyholders.
A judge is considering the extraordinary step of ordering costs against basketball coach Shane Heal in his failed Fair Work case against the Sydney Flames, saying the case was “very much on the margin” of constituting an exception to the no-costs rule.
Keybridge Capital chief executive officer Nicholas Bolton has lost his appeal of a costs review panel decision that saddled him with a legal bill of $308,940 for work done by Atanaskovic Hartnell for his company in a dispute with Brookfield Multiplex.
A judge has tossed an unconscionable conduct case against IT company IT&C, but declined to order costs against the individual applicant, citing his “many years of experience”, but no firm evidence, in support of a finding that the order would harm the man’s mental health.
Subcontractor EnerMech has won an appeal in its fight against Acciona over a $10 million progress payment for work on the Westconnex M4-M5 link, with an appeals court finding the question of whether EnerMech’s claim was a payment claim for construction work was a matter for an adjudicator, not the court.
The French association representing wine producers from Champagne has discontinued its lawsuit against an Australian retailer after it agreed to only use seed extract from the Champagne region of France.
Although carefully reasoned, last week’s landmark judgment by the Full Federal Court finding power to grant contingency fees to class action solicitors has placed the question of statutory authority to award settlement common fund orders on more unsteady ground than before, experts say.
Metal mining company Fortescue hired private investigators to spy on former employees who created green iron start-up Element Zero, sifting through their mail, taking photos of their children and following them to Kmart, a court has heard.
Group members in a class action against ANZ over credit card interest charges that settled for $57.5 million are expected to take home at least 60 per cent of the settlement sum after legal fees and a funder’s commission are deducted.