Public law

Former Dick Smith CFO Michael Potts is on the hook for paying $57 million in damages to National Australia Bank after the High Court on Wednesday revoked its grant of special leave, finding he did not raise a legal question of public importance.

The applicant in a nine-year-old class action over the government's 2011 live exports ban has urged the Commonwealth to pay up to $900 million to settle the case, after earlier settlement efforts flopped.

A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the  government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.