Judges

The Queensland Commissioner of State Revenue has lost an appeal against the Montessori Children’s Foundation after it refused the organisation's bid to be registered as a charity to avoid property taxes.

A court has rejected a bid by a Hazelwood power plant contractor to pursue an offsetting claim for an alleged breach of confidentiality in response to a $1.7 million demand from a subcontractor.

Journalist Lisa Wilkinson has told a court her qualified privilege defence was wrongly rejected in ex-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case, arguing the trial judge focused too heavily on the Network Ten's reporting of the difficulties Brittany Higgins faced in reporting the rape at the centre of the case.

A director at property developer Villawood can't shield instructions given to his Mills Oakley solicitor after a judge found he sought to use his lawyer to mislead the court.

A class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments won't seek to transfer the case to contingency fee-friendly Victoria despite a High Court ruling that put the kibosh on solicitors' common fund orders. 

Online trading platform IG Markets must pay over $5.5 million in damages to a customer, with a court finding a contract term that purportedly allowed it to reverse transactions made in error was unfair.

A heritage bid to protect Murujuga's rock art in Western Australia has languished with the environment minister for more than three years, a court has heard, leaving gas giant Woodside to continue to threaten the sacred spot.

A “unicorn” silk affectionately nicknamed the Ted Lasso of the Victorian Bar has been appointed to the Supreme Court at the age of 46, capping a rapid rise from commercial practice and class action work.

Online trader Plus500 is seeking to stay a class action on behalf of investors who lost money trading in highly leveraged financial products, telling a court the applicant signed an agreement forcing the dispute into arbitration. 

Network Ten has attacked the “perversity” of ex-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s argument that a judge's finding that he raped former colleague Brittany Higgins should be overturned because the trial judge did not accept every detail of Higgins’ account.