Senior barrister Norman O’Bryan, who has conceded that he should be struck from the roll for his conduct in an alleged class action fee scandal, has been subpoenaed to give evidence for lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of O’Bryan’s co-conspirator.
A court has ordered Theta Asset Management, a collapsed financial services provider that ran a property investment scheme targeting retirees, to pay a $2 million penalty for issuing defective product disclosure statements.
A judge has set aside a subpoena issued by venture capitalist Elaine Stead in her defamation lawsuit against Fairfax, saying subpoenas could not just be issued “willy nilly” to identify a journalist’s confidential sources.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge hearing two competing class actions against Allianz Australia over “junk” insurance has asked the parties for feedback on what she should consider at a hearing on a request for a group costs order, which would allow the plaintiff lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, the first such request made since Victoria legalised contingency fees.
Shareholders who lost a Federal Court trial in their class action against engineering company Worley are challenging the decision to dismiss the case.
Insurers will face a flood of pandemic-related claims after an appeals court ruled in a test case brought by the Insurance Council that certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover do not apply to coronavirus-related claims.
A finding this week that Norton Rose Fulbright intentionally misled a former lawyer in an employment dispute and abused the court’s processes threatens the legal career of an equity partner at the firm and is a warning to all firms to think twice before representing themselves in cases involving soured professional relationships.
EnergyAustralia will cough up $1.5 million in penalties for wrongfully disconnecting eight customers facing serious financial hardship.
A court has ruled that an arbitration proceeding before the Fair Work Commission does not doom a Federal Court lawsuit brought by the civilian air traffic controllers union against government-owned Airservices.
An appeals court has shot down oil and gas giant Santos’ bid for expanded discovery against engineering company Fluor, finding that the application was “akin to a fishing expedition” that was based on “a shaky assumption” by lawyers from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.