Judges

Personal healthcare giant PZ Cussons has lost its bid for indemnity costs against the ACCC, after claiming that the regulator was "doomed to fail" when it appealed a judgment dismissing its case over an alleged laundry detergent cartel.

The ACCC has come up short in its appeal of a ruling that dismissed its challenge to Pacific National $205 million acquisition of Aurizon's Acacia Ridge Terminal in Queensland, with the Full Federal Court also releasing Pacific National from an undertaking given to the court.

A judge has made a common fund order in approving a $3 million settlement in a class action against mortgage lending and investment company RMBL, the first common fund order granted since the High Court shot down these orders in the early stages of class actions.

An Ashurst partner is at risk of being evicted from his Point Piper home after allegedly refusing to pay a $150,000 special levy.

A decision this week rejecting a proposed common fund order at the settlement approval stage of a class action against teleco Vocus has dashed the hopes of litigation funders that a recent High Court ruling would not foreclose on judges using discretion at the end of a case and will cement a return to bookbuilding and a focus on shareholder class actions by institutional investors.

A prominent silk deliberately misled a cost consultant retained to provide an opinion on the barrister's fees to a court overseeing a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities, then joked about it with lawyer and litigation funder Mark Elliott, a judge has been told.

Chinese-based witnesses for Hytera may be able to travel to Hong Kong for cross-examination in a now rescheduled copyright trial between Motorola and Hytera, after Chinese law and the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis forced the court to vacate the hearing, initially due to start this week.

A court has substantially dismissed an application for further discovery by three companies facing a lawsuit by chemical and energy giant Hanwha Solutions for patent infringement of its solar cell technology.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission maintains its $75 million settlement agreement with Volkswagen over the emissions cheating scandal was “appropriate”, as VW progresses its appeal of the $125 million penalty imposed by a judge who called the ACCC agreement “manifestly inadequate”.

A judge has declined to make a common fund order in approving a $35 million settlement in a shareholder class action against telecommunications firm Vocus Group, resulting in a reduced payout for the funders that backed the case.