A funder bankrolling a class action against the NSW government over the construction of Sydney’s $16 billion Westconnex tunnel is locked in a dispute with the lead applicants over $135,000 held in a trust account, and wants to replace the plaintiffs and their solicitors, the third group of lawyers to run the case.
A judge has ordered Transport for NSW to only pay 65 per cent of the costs of a class action over Sydney’s $3 billion light rail construction, finding it was not inappropriate to apportion costs even though the plaintiffs were largely successful.
The NSW Supreme Court would have the power to deal with a contingency fee order made in a class action against KPMG if the accounting firm won its application to move the case from Victoria, making the existence of the order a neutral factor in the transfer bid, the federal Attorney-General has told the High Court.
NSW’s workplace health and safety regulator is conducting inquiries into Nine Entertainment amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour by its former news director, as several women in the TV industry mull sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
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 judge has refused to allow an owners corporation to serve late expert evidence in its case against developer Mirvac over alleged defects in a Sydney apartment complex, saying a solicitor’s explanation about “competing commitments” was inadequate and “a circumstance shared by most members of the legal profession”.
The top judge of the NSW Supreme Court has issued a warning over the use of artificial intelligence by practitioners, saying the technology may “encourage or feed laziness in research and analysis”.
An environment advocacy group is seeking special leave from the High Court to appeal a decision that allowed the extension of two Mach Energy and Whitehaven Coal mega coal mines in NSW, saying courts have “enfeebled” environmental legislation.
A judge has approved a $40 million settlement in a shareholder class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson, with almost half of the settlement to go towards a funder’s commission and legal fees.
Unanimously dismissing an appeal by thoroughbred breeding and horseracing giant Godolphin, the High Court has ruled on the proper construction of a tax exemption for rural land in NSW.