Contracts

Air conditioning wholesaler Polyaire has been ordered to pay $15.2 million in damages in relation to a 2018 fire at a Seven Hills, NSW, factory complex it leased caused by its placement of wooden pallets in a open yard.

A judge has clarified a warning he made to refer lawyers for Alvarez & Marsal to the legal watchdog after hearing of the hefty costs of complying with discovery orders won by rival EY, saying the threat wasn't directed at counsel.

A residential land lease community in NSW's Central Coast must repay residents for a fee hike after a tribunal ruled the contractual term providing for the increase involved “double dipping” to account for inflation.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.