Federal Court Justice Jayne Jagot has been appointed as the seventh ever female Justice of the High Court, marking the first time in Australia’s history that a majority of judges on Australia’s top court are women.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has suffered a defeat in proceedings alleging the Commonwealth Bank of Australia accepted conflicted remuneration through the sale of its Essential Super product, with a judge finding the regulator “ignored the circumstances” in which the product was distributed.
A judge who slashed the fees of a law firm that reached a $1.55 million settlement in two class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s has expressed her “annoyance” at the firm’s attempt to tender time records to justify the bill.
The High Court was ostensibly convened in his home state of Queensland to consider special leave applications, but something told Justice Patrick Keane that was not the full story.
The Albanese government has thrown its support behind a proposal to establish a federal judicial commission that would address questionable conduct by judges.
The applicant in an investor class action against Virgin Australia plans to appeal a judge’s decision requiring litigation funder Balance Legal Capital UK to give the airline an indemnity in order to bring the proceedings, saying the indemnity “substantially changes the risk calculus” for group members.
The judge overseeing a class action against US medical device maker Boston Scientific is considering appointing a contradictor to look over the $105 million settlement reached in the case, despite seeing no obvious obstacle to approving the deal.
Santos has filed an appeal after Tiwi Islanders won a Federal Court challenge to a $4.7 billion Barossa offshore gas project, with a judge finding they were not properly consulted about the project, which they say would harm their culture and way of life.
A judge overseeing mining magnate Clive Palmer’s latest spat with the West Australian government has declined to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing liabilities against Palmer’s companies Mineralogy and International Minerals under the controversial ‘Palmer Act’.
A judge has paused a class action on behalf of 6,000 women allegedly injured by defective pelvic mesh devices pending determination of an application by Astora Health for a stay of the proceedings following its bankruptcy filing.