Contracts

A top-tier Australian law firm has been ordered to pay more than half a million dollars in damages for professional negligence, after its billionaire client alleged losses of almost $US37 million following a “critical omission” in legal advice.

Former Wallabies player Israel Folau has argued that the termination of his $5.7 million contract by a Rugby Australia Tribunal over social media posts in which he made a homphobic slur was an unreasonable restraint of trade.

The Queensland Supreme Court judge has refused to transfer proceedings by villa owners against Clive Palmer's abandoned Sunshine Coast resort to the Federal Court, but has also rejected a separate bid by Palmer to shut down the case, which has been dormant for six years.

A party to a contract may be precluded from enforcing a contractual right if it has acted in a way that is clearly inconsistent with that right under the doctrine of election. Recently, the NSW Court of Appeal applied the principles of election to a complex factual scenario and the lesson from the decision is this -- if you have a right to terminate a contract, you should expressly communicate your intentions to the other party as soon as possible after the right to terminate enlivens, says McCabe Curwood managing principal Andrew Lacey.

Crown Resorts and Lendlease have settled a dispute with the NSW government over access to unblocked harbour views from the $2.2 billion Crown Sydney Hotel Resort currently being constructed in the city's Barangaroo area.

A judge has criticised two units of global finance firm TP ICAP Group for "unnecessary and over technical interlocutory skirmishes" as they seek damages from two employees who jumped ship to a competitor and allegedly tried to poach staff.

An appeals court has found insurers AIG Australia and Catlin Australia have to cover part of a $6 million settlement agreed to by Bank of Queensland last year in a class action brought by investors in a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme by jailed fraudster Bradley Sherwin.

Australia's largest potato wholesaler Mitolo Group will pay a penalty of $240,000 to resolve the consumer regulator's case alleging its contracts with growers were unfair.

Construction group Icon Co has dragged insurers Liberty Mutual Insurance and QBE Underwriting to court for allegedly refusing to provide coverage after the Opal Tower disaster in December last year, which led to thousands of residents being evacuated.

A court has stayed a case against global lithium miner Galaxy Resources after finding that an insurance policy by the plaintiff's funder and an associated undertaking and deed of indemnity were insufficient to cover security for costs.