When the Supreme Court of Victoria considers for the first time a settlement reached in a class action run on a contingency fee basis, it will grapple with some novel questions, including whether to trim the 27.5 per cent group costs order granted to Slater & Gordon at the outset of the case, legal experts say.
A court has struck the name of an Adelaide solicitor from the roll for failing to pay six barristers and misappropriating trust funds, finding the misconduct was not excused by his financial difficulties.
Epic Games’ case alleging Google ran its Play Store anti-competitively is “significantly more ambitious” than the Fortnite game maker’s claims against Apple, according to the search giant, which says its restraints are “more flexible and less draconian” than the iPhone maker’s.
Author Peter FitzSimons is seeking costs from Bruce Lehrmann for complying with a subpoena in the former Liberal staffer’s defamation case against Network Ten and FitzSimons’ wife Lisa Wilkinson over the network’s airing of allegations that Lehrmann raped ex-colleague Brittany Higgins.
An appeals court has granted the Commonwealth’s bid to suppress material relating to its “conduct after capture” training in a discrimination case brought by a former ADF member, finding that a document is not in the public domain simply because it is available for inspection on the court file.
US animal drug manufacturer Zoetis has been granted leave to appeal a ruling that invalidated three of its patents covering pig vaccines.
Australia’s largest childcare centre operator G8 Education has agreed to pay $46.5 million to settle a shareholder class action alleging the company failed to keep investors in the loop about factors affecting its 2017 financial performance, and the firm that ran the case is set to make $13 million after securing the first group costs order in Victoria.
ANZ has agreed to pay $57.5 million in a settlement of a class action over retrospective interest charges on credit cards.
Hitting back at claims that its App Store stifles competition, Apple has told a trial that app developers have myriad ways of maximising profits without paying it a commission, noting Epic Games made US$3.8 billion from in-game currency V-Bucks in 2021.
A solicitor who posted comments on his client’s Facebook page about an ongoing criminal proceeding has been reprimanded for improper use of social media.