Law firm HWL Ebsworth says it has avoided any negative financial impact from its connection with Sydney financial firm Forum Finance, which has been accused by Westpac of a $263 million fraud.
Two shareholder class actions against sandalwood producer Quintis that reached an in principle settlement over a year ago are moving forward following a protracted dispute over insurance, with the lead applicants getting approval to file proposed amended pleadings.
Third-party liability insurers may become the latest parties to be dragged into a complex class action over alleged defects in Sydney’s Opal Tower, which has has spawned six cross-claims so far.
Westpac and French investment bank Societe Generale have obtained freezing orders over $263 million in assets in fraud cases brought against a Sydney software firm and its director, with a court hearing that other financial institutions may also be at risk from the alleged fraud.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is on a hiring spree, with the appointment of commercial litigation silk Charles Scerri QC and six corporate partners from MinterEllison.
In a win for a long-running class action against US auto giant Ford on behalf of owners of 70,000 vehicles, a judge has found that cars installed with PowerShift transmissions were defective.
US singer Katy Perry has won a ruling shielding communications with lawyers from 2009 in a trade mark dispute with Australian fashion designer Katie Perry.
Law firms are ordering staff in their Sydney offices to work from home if possible and avoid face-to-face meetings as the state’s new rules requiring masks at all indoor workplaces takes effect.
Industry super funds AustralianSuper and IFM Investors – the consortium behind the interest rate swap at the centre of the corporate watchdog’s insider trading case against Westpac — have asked a judge to shield commercially sensitive information from the public as the high-profile action unfolds.
Opal Tower builder Icon and structural engineer WSP Structures have been joined as defendants in a class action brought by property owners, who have also added a slew of consumer law claims to the complex proceedings.