The judge who presided over ASIC’s successful case against payday lender Sunshine Loans has recused himself from deciding on penalty in the matter, saying a new court protocol might be needed for when a judge makes an adverse credit finding during the liability phase of a case.
A judge has rejected a law firm’s attempt to update its bid to run class actions against Hyundai and Kia, saying the changes were intended to net the firm a competitive advantage in an upcoming fight for carriage of the class actions and different in substance from its previous position.
A judge has set aside a costs agreement between a Perth-based law firm and its client in a family law matter that culminated in a $87,000 bill, saying the agreement was “positively misleading” with respect to the applicable hourly rates.
Keybridge Capital chief executive officer Nicholas Bolton has lost his appeal of a costs review panel decision that saddled him with a legal bill of $308,940 for work done by Atanaskovic Hartnell for his company in a dispute with Brookfield Multiplex.
Law firm Holding Redlich has been hit with proceedings over invoices totalling more than $334,000 by an ex-client who says the firm provided no cost agreement and made no cost disclosure over the course of an eight-month retainer.
A unit of petrol store chain EG Australia has sued Ashurst and LegalVision alleging they breached their implied duty of care through advice given to Woolworths about the assignment of a disputed Sydney petrol station lease.
Santos has largely succeeded in its bid for documents from the Environmental Defenders Office and expert witnesses in a failed case challenging the construction of the oil and gas company’s $5.6 billion Barossa pipeline.
An appeals court has found that the ACT legal complaints body was entitled to bring a second complaint against a lawyer after a first complaint about the same conduct was summarily dismissed, rejecting an argument that retreading the same ground would be oppressive.
A Wollongong wills and estates solicitor has been struck from the roll, with the NSW Supreme Court finding it was warranted given the seriousness and extent of the offending, as well as the solicitor’s initial reticence to cooperate with the investigation.
A former Queensland prosecutor has had his name struck from the roll after committing several drug offences, despite a judge finding the crimes were linked to post-traumatic stress disorder he developed from exposure to child exploitation material at work.