Jones Day

US firm Jones Day is growing its Brisbane office, snagging a partner from Ashurst for its labor and employment group.

The law firm running a shareholder class action against WiseTech is seeking a group costs order that would give it a 35 per cent cut of any settlement, arguing the relatively high rate was justified by the risks of running the case.

Jones Day has lured a real estate expert from Clayton Utz to join its Brisbane office as a partner.

Real estate asset manager Dexus will cover the legal costs of shareholders whose stake in Australia Pacific Airports Corporation hangs in the balance, as it reveals a $55 million book value increase.

The ATO has won its challenge to a finding that it waived privilege over draft expert reports in an email referring to its contents, with a court saying disclosure of the substance of information is not per se inconsistent with maintaining privilege.

The date has been set for a court battle over Dexus' sale of shares in Asia Pacific Airport Corporation, a fight the operator of Melbourne and Launceston airports says needs 10 hearing days.

Dexus' denial of a breach of confidentiality in a battle with co-owners of airport operator APAC is unlikely to hold up, a judge has said, and what appears to have been done can't be undone. What the high-stakes row will come down to, he says, is materiality.

SMBC has lost a bid for documents connected to King & Wood Mallesons opinions in its suit against fintech Humm linked to the Forum Finance fraud, with a court saying the Japanese bank did not share joint privilege over the material.

Alcoa has won a transfer pricing dispute with the Tax Office, with a tribunal rejecting the ATO's novel argument that Alcoa was not dealing at arm's length in selling alumina to a distributor that bribed Bahraini government officials.

Drug giant Sanofi has failed in its appeal of a decision granting applications by biopharmaceutical company Amgen for patents covering the cholesterol-lowering treatment Repatha.