Judges

An appeals court has relaxed freezing orders against Sydney property developer Golden Rain, allowing it to sell property to repay its debts while it defends a $26 million defects claim by the owners corporation of the Sugarcube Apartments and Honeycomb Terraces developments.

A judge has approved a $120 million settlement in a class action against AMP that followed the banking royal commission, saying while it was a “very disappointing outcome” for group members it was still fair and reasonable.

So-called trap calls to suspected intellectual property violators should not be made by solicitors, a judge has said, referring to two phone calls by a lawyer acting for a Queensland pool company in a trade mark dispute.

A class action on behalf of 32,000 ALDI workers who were allegedly denied pay for pre- and post-shift work has settled for $55 million, with the retail workers union set to receive $1.5 million towards its costs.

An appeals court has granted a builder's appeal in a dispute over payments for work on the Seasons of Perth hotel, finding the strict one-day deadline for serving an adjudication review application under Western Australia's Security of Payment Act is a jurisdictional requirement. 

Utility Sydney Water has claimed privilege over hundreds of documents said to reveal advice about its obligations when compulsorily acquiring land, in a dispute with a property owner over 21 hectares of land in Rosehill.

The owner of a proposed shopping centre development in Melton is appealing a Victorian Supreme Court order that it return $1.5 million to a defunct developer that allegedly breached a $30 million land sale contract.

Nuby has taken former distributor Playgro to court to enforce a US judgment, but a messy dispute has emerged over whether the baby products maker can pursue the company when its name is shared with another entity.

A judge has ruled that two early investors in iSignthis are entitled to $689,662 in compensation after finding that the fintech breached an agreement entitling them to performance shares in the company. 

Investors in Falcon Capital's First Guardian Master Fund will recover less than 10 per cent of a $33.5 million loan advanced to an inexperienced Melbourne developer, under a settlement reached by the company's liquidators.