The law firms and barristers who defended former Dick Smith directors in sprawling litigation over the failure of the electronics retailer earned close to $68 million in fees, a court has heard.
Google has failed in its bid to stay a competition lawsuit brought by Epic Games, after failing to show that the Fortnite game maker would not be disadvantaged if the case were heard in California instead.
Class action settlement totals skyrocketed to over $900 million last year, and one law firm negotiated the lion’s share, with $672 million in settlements under its belt.
A group of banks that failed to prove steel giant Arrium falsified representations on loan drawdown notices ahead of its $2.8 billion collapse have been ordered to pay indemnity costs after a court found they rejected $10 million settlement offers three days into the trial.
National Australia Bank and HSBC should be “jointly and severally liable” to pay a portion of the costs of a failed case brought by Dick Smith’s receivers against the company’s former directors because the banks stood to gain financially if the lawsuit was successful, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.
The Port of Newcastle has largely won its High Court fight with mining giant Glencore over access fees and will now be able to set a higher price for use of the port’s facilities.
Apple has reached the end of the line in its attempts to move a competition dispute with Fortnite game maker Epic Games to California, with the High Court denying the tech company’s special leave application to appeal a judgment that found there were “strong reasons” for keeping the matter in Australia.
Apple has rejected claims that it misused its market power by pulling Epic Games’ popular Fortnite game from its App Store and says the move did not affect the game developer’s business because most of its revenue comes from other platforms.
Epic Game’s plan to lead econometric evidence in its dispute with Apple could be the first time such evidence has been led in a competition case in Australia, a judge has said, as he warned that the companies’ “unlimited resources and enthusiasm for victory” should not bog the case down.
Google has urged a court to stay a competition lawsuit brought by Epic Games, saying new evidence showed the Fortnite game maker would not be disadvantaged if the case was heard in California, as the Full Court found it would in a similar challenge by Apple.