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Westpac unit RAMS breached franchise agreement, court finds
Westpac-owned mortgage lender RAMS Financial Services breached a franchise agreement by failing to supply a Brisbane-based franchisee with information about nearby broker-originated customers, a judge has found.
Lawyers, funders brace for landmark common fund ruling this week
Judgments in two appeals challenging the legality of common fund orders issued by courts in class actions will be handed down this week, and the rulings could have a profound effect on how class actions are run by lawyers and their funders in the future.
Unilever appeals loss over Nivea deodorant claims
Unilever is not ready to put its long-running consumer case against competitor Beiersdorf to rest, filing a challenge to a ruling that Beiersdorf did not make misleading claims about its Nivea clinical strength deodorant products.
“Something’s gone terribly wrong”: CIMIC slammed by class action judge
A judge has reprimanded CIMIC Group's preparations to defend a class action against it, saying a late attempt to file critical evidence was a sign something "pretty horrible" had gone on behind the scenes.
ASIC appeals loss in Westpac personal advice case
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has appealed a ruling that two Westpac units did not provide personal financial advice as part of a campaign encouraging customers to roll over external superannuation accounts.
Wyeth defends validity of patents in trial over best-selling Prevnar 13 vaccine
Pharmaceutical giant Wyeth has shot down arguments by rival Merck Sharp & Dohme that its Prevnar 13 vaccine lacked inventiveness, saying during the closing submissions of a high-stakes patent trial that up until it developed the top-selling shot scientists thought there was a "ceiling" of 11 types of pneumococcal bacteria that could be included in a single vaccine.
ASIC challenge to Westpac personal advice ruling likely
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will likely appeal a ruling that two Westpac units did not provide personal financial advice as part of a campaign encouraging customers to roll over external superannuation accounts.
Class action threat hurt Boart Longyear scheme vote, judge says
A judge has recommended another shareholder vote over Boart Longyear's plan to move to Canada, saying a letter by a minority shareholder warning the move could imperil a possible class action against the distressed mining services company was misleading and affected the integrity of the vote.
Merck Sharp & Dohme slams Wyeth vaccine patent claims as ‘hearsay and speculation’
Claims by Wyeth that its patented Prevnar 13 pneumococcal vaccine was inventive because other pharmaceutical giants had failed in developing similar vaccines are based on "hearsay and speculation," Merck Sharp & Dohme told the court during closing submissions in the high-stakes trial over the world's best-selling vaccine.
Common fund orders fulfil class action promise, lawyers tell historic appeals court
Common fund orders are the completion of the notion of class actions envisaged when the regime was introduced 27 years ago, a joint-sitting of two appeals courts was told on the second and last day of a landmark challenge to what has become an oft-used case management tool by trial judges.