Contracts

Hall & Wilcox has struck back at proceedings by the liquidators for collapsed construction group Hastie, saying they have failed to specify why its $18.6 million legal bill incurred in suing two dozen builders is unreasonable.

Property valuer M3 Property has denied claims that its lease valuations were incorrect and led to tenants of Adelaide's Rundle Mall being overcharged and says that if it is found liable, brokers CBRE and JLL should be on the hook as well.

An appeals court has binned construction firm Shamrock's second bid to toss waste management firm Cleanaway’s $31 million claim for costs associated with cleanup of an Ipswich dump following a flood.

Paper company Opal has sued the Victorian government for $402 million in damages, claiming it was forced to close the Maryvale paper mill after the state government breached an agreement to provide it with a stable supply of wood.

A landlord in eastern Melbourne has filed proceedings alleging a tenant breached its lease by converting a cafe into a smoking lounge.

A developer has won an injunction to stop a builder from enforcing an adjudication decision in a dispute over a $3 million payment claim, with a judge finding it would be an abuse of process to make the developer pay.

Developer Techin MBS has filed a lawsuit against Maddocks, claiming the law firm is liable for negligence if a contract of sale for a penthouse in Toorak with multi-millionaire Scott Shearman is not found to be binding.

As it battles for ACCC approval to buy the East Rockingham waste-to-energy plant in Western Australia, infrastructure giant Acciona faces litigation by waste management firm Veolia over the state's other major plant.

A court has rejected a property developer's bid to challenge a payment claim decision that found in favour of collapsed builder Kenik, the contractor on a $14 million Coles and Liquorland in Taringa.

Packing giant Pact Group, owned by billionaire Raphael Geminder, has won its bid to have two barristers cross-examine an expert for logistics and supply chain company TIC Group when their dispute over a $30 million earn out payment goes to trial in December.