Professional Negligence

A Melbourne-based business and law professor has sued Arnold Bloch Leibler,  alleging the firm gave him bad tax advice and failed to advise that he could have avoided paying Australian income tax on an inheritance from his late father, a prominent Indonesian businessman.

There are at least three individual suits proceeding against Melbourne law firm Waller Legal after a class action alleging it consistently failed to bring economic loss claims on behalf of sexual abuse clients was declassed, a court has heard. 

A judge has ordered a Sydney law firm to pay $427,000 to a former client after finding it drafted a defective notice in a land sale and defended proceedings that came about because of its own negligence.

A court has dismissed a client’s attempt to join Kheir Lawyers to an action against Shine Lawyers, after the application -- repleaded for a fourth time -- remained “indefensible".

Parkview Constructions is seeking to bring negligence claims against Bates Smart and McKenzie Group in a lawsuit over alleged combustible cladding at Australia Towers in Sydney Olympic Park. 

A judge has approved a $3.5 million settlement in a class action brought by former clients of Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick.

The peak body for community legal centres argues a case over alleged cookie cutter legal advice should be stripped of class action status, citing a recent judgment in a case against a Victorian law firm, but a judge noted there may be significant differences. 

A judge recently made the rare decision to declass a representative case, and experts say we may see more of the difficult applications as class actions move into areas with greater variation in the circumstances of group members. 

A judge has refused to vacate a trial next month in a case against a law firm and a barrister by a former client, despite the agreement of all parties to push off the hearing.

Lawyers will struggle to hold providers of legal artificial intelligence services liable for negligence but the situation may change as the technology becomes more sophisticated, experts have told Lawyerly.