The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won its first civil penalty proceeding in a greenwashing case, with a court finding against Vanguard Investments over its $1 billion “ethically conscious” hedge fund.
A judge has approved a settlement in a shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard that grants a 34 per cent cut for group members, saying that investors had agreed to the lawyers and funder receiving the “lion’s share”.
A law firm running a shareholder class action against building materials giant James Hardie Industries has argued for a 27.5 per cent group costs order, saying it was the “standard benchmark” for earnings guidance cases.
Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto will face three defamation cases at the same time — one by former Liberal MP Moira Deeming and two by anti-trans activists over last year’s ‘’Let Women Speak’ rally, which was crashed by neo-Nazis.
The state of Victoria has won its bid to prevent lawyers for a class action over Victoria’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle from proofing lay witnesses, ahead of a criminal trial against the Department of Health, which is due to start in May.
Hungry Jack’s is seeking five years of Big Mac sales data as it readies for a fight over damages stemming from its claim that its Big Jack burger has 25 per cent more beef than the McDonald’s burger.
In a loss for the Australian Taxation Office, an appeals court has found that the Liberty Group’s use of corporate and trust ‘silos’ was not an unlawful tax avoidance scheme.
Aussie Skips is fighting a court’s ruling that imposed a $3.5 million penalty against the waste company and sentenced its boss to an 18-month intensive corrections order, in a criminal cartel case that also implicated Bingo Industries.
When the Supreme Court of Victoria considers for the first time a settlement reached in a class action run on a contingency fee basis, it will grapple with some novel questions, including whether to trim the 27.5 per cent group costs order granted to Slater & Gordon at the outset of the case, legal experts say.
A court has struck the name of an Adelaide solicitor from the roll for failing to pay six barristers and misappropriating trust funds, finding the misconduct was not excused by his financial difficulties.