The liquidator of a security firm that collapsed after being sued over Victoria’s hotel quarantine debacle has taken the firm’s former lawyers, Clyde & Co, to court.
A judge has raised concerns about bids to declass group proceedings over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the thousands of policyholders who registered for the class actions might reap more from the cases than making claims directly with their insurers.
Santos is seeking to wrangle further documents from the Environmental Defenders Office to support its bid for costs orders against the law firm, telling a court there must have been “glaring deficiencies” in the standard of its services in running its challenge to construction of a pipeline for the energy company’s $5.6 billion Barossa gas project.
A Senate report into the government’s use of consultants, launched in the wake of PwC’s leak of confidential Treasury information, has recommended an inquiry into whether partnerships should be subject to the same regulations as corporations and again called on PwC to release the names of all those involved in the leak of confidential government information.
A judge has thrown out a shareholder’s case against Slater & Gordon over the firm’s takeover by private equity firm Allegro, after finding the firm was not the proper target for the claims.
The Mining and Energy Union is pursuing pay increases of up to $40,000 per year for labour hire workers at three BHP coal mines under new legislation, saying the energy giant’s use of labour hire to cut pay was “out of step” with community standards and the law.
The owner of a major coal power station in Western Australia has lost its bid for an inquiry into alleged misconduct by the receivers of collapsed Griffin Coal after they tried to avoid obligations under coal supply agreements, with a judge saying the allegations were “relatively trivial”.
Cargill has won a trade mark infringement case against a company that a judge said appeared to be operating an “internet scam” to intercept a $10 million payment to the multinational food company.
The lead applicant in a class action against former Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiary Count Financial has settled individual claims in the case, which alleges the financial advisory firm charged fees for no service.
Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has yet to engage lawyers to pursue his appeal of a judge’s finding that he raped colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, but while he has the right to represent himself, experts have told Lawyerly it would be “very unwise” for him to run the case on his own.