Ashurst Perkins Coie

A class action over the collapse of Arrium is bound to its pleading that the asset value of all the steelmaker's business units was impaired by a total of $2.8 billion, a judge has ruled in the second week of trial.

A mid-trial fight has erupted in a class action over the collapse of steelmaker Arrium, with the company's auditor and directors saying the case had swerved, and the plaintiff accusing the respondents of "playing games".

KPMG told Ashurst that a whistleblower had not provided sufficient detail for the firm to determine whether his disclosures were protected under the whistleblower regime, despite having covertly downloaded information on his complaints from his computer.

Law firm Mallesons, which is named in proceedings brought by failed property developer FSM, has denied it knew that a former director used company loans to pay off personal debts.

KPMG has told a judge there is no evidence that Arrium's share price would have changed even if it had recorded a $2.8 billion impairment, urging the judge to reject the shareholder class action's "intuitive" case on loss. 

Former directors of steelmaker Arrium have rejected shareholder class action claims that the company's collapse was foreseeable, calling claims they had their heads in the sand “arrant nonsense”. 

KPMG failed to bring the necessary scepticism to the task of auditing failing steel manufacturer Arrium, instead leaving contradictory evidence unresolved and giving the company a clean bill of health, a shareholder class action has told the court.

A shareholder class action against KPMG and ex-Arrium directors says the company's accounts were infected by "chronic and systemic overoptimism", with the former operator of Whyalla Steelworks portraying as viable a business that was impaired up to $2.8 billion.

Ashurst Perkins Coie has brought on a recently promoted partner from Clayton Utz to grow its litigation practice.

As proof of its popularity as a class action jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Victoria will hear opening submissions in three class action trials on Monday, an unprecedented number in a single day for the court.