Victoria

A class action by property owners near a GrainCorp factory in rural Victoria has defeated the company's bid for security for costs, with a judge finding the orders would "stultify" the proceedings.

Victoria's construction regulator has charged builder Glenvill Construction with breaching new laws requiring builders to hold a domestic building insurance policy before receiving deposits for contracts.

Victoria will pay $125 million in a settement finalised on Monday in a class action over the state's COVID-19 hotel quarantine program.

M&G Real Estate and Stockland have entered a partnership to develop a portfolio of land lease communities within Australia's senior living sector.

The judge overseeing class actions against Hyundai and Kia has taken the parties to task over lack of progress in the cases, calling them out for “paying lip service” to the obligation to proceed expeditiously. 

An appeals court ruling has confirmed that non-contracting owners must prove their own loss to claim defect damages under warranties in the Domestic Building Contracts Act. 

A judge has granted the first-ever application to vary a contingency fee in a class action that has yet to reach settlement or judgment, but has warned his decision doesn't set a precedent for “routine variation” of group costs orders. 

A class action against Dr Daniel Lanzer and his clinic has won approval to allege that some doctors passed themselves off as plastic surgeons in social media posts, including some that included the terms #plasticsurgeon and #plasticsurgery.

A law firm bringing a class action alleging Harvey Norman sold worthless warranties is seeking a 30 per cent group costs order, arguing times have changed and that the court should only consider GCOs awarded in the past year. 

A Queensland solicitor has been referred to the Legal Services Commission after filing submissions in a client’s traffic offense case that a judge said contained fake citations and may have been AI-generated.