Judges

The judge overseeing two competing class actions against Google has issued a warning to law firms that agree to team up and work on a class action together, saying that in other markets such arrangements might be viewed as “something akin to a cartel”.

A class action by investors in a Melbourne apartment develpment has resolved for $2.6 million, but the law firm bringing the case will take a haircut on its fees after group members ignored calls to contribute to the costs.

A bid by the parties for the court to determine legal costs in a successful case over the $55 million sale of a Queensland shopping centre has left a judge scratching his head.

Mortgage broker Lendi Group and insurer ALI Group want a proceeding on behalf of tens of thousands of Aussie Home Loans customers to be stripped of class action status.

Penalty proceedings in ASIC's case against coal producer TerraCom have been put on ice until the regulator’s suit against the company’s directors goes to trial. 

A charitable trust of the late artist Martin Sharp, known for designing album cover art for Eric Clapton, can sell his $33 million home to the neighbouring Cranbrook, despite having expressed "animus" towards the prestigious private school, a judge has said.

The judge hearing the ACCC’s price-fixing case against Downer EDI's Spotless and Ventia has proposed an initial hearing to determine if the companies are in competition, saying he won't let the case become “totally unwieldy”.

Medical device maker Exactech has reached a settlement in a class action over alleged defective implants, following the US company's bankruptcy.

After 50 directions hearings, a long-running dispute between the owners of a 23-storey building in Docklands and insurer AAI will go to trial next year, a fed-up judge has said.

Pembroke Resources has lost its appeal bid over the meaning of “restricted land” after the private equity-backed miner argued a court’s ruling could impinge on plans for a $1 billion steel-making coal mine in Queensland.