Victoria

A mid-trial fight has erupted in a class action over the collapse of steelmaker Arrium, with the company's auditor and directors saying the case had swerved, and the plaintiff accusing the respondents of "playing games".

A judge has found that Shine Lawyers breached its obligations to the court by extending the life of a void 2022 proceeding and then filing a new case over the same claim.

Lawyers for LBJ Developments have told a judge that its joint venture partners on a development at the former Lilydale quarry breached their obligations by failing to honour a contractual right to tender for quarry filling works at the site.

A judge has slammed NAB for failing to comply with court orders in a negligence case against the bank, calling its actions "discourteous and unacceptable".

The High Court has declined to review a ruling from the Victorian Court of Appeal that found domestic building insurance policies do not respond to when a defect arises, but rather to when loss or damage is suffered.

KPMG has told a judge there is no evidence that Arrium's share price would have changed even if it had recorded a $2.8 billion impairment, urging the judge to reject the shareholder class action's "intuitive" case on loss. 

Macquarie Capital has taken aim at the expert evidence of a shareholder class action over Nuix's IPO, saying it was "completely inadmissible" because the expert had answered legal questions that fell outside his expertise.

Former directors of steelmaker Arrium have rejected shareholder class action claims that the company's collapse was foreseeable, calling claims they had their heads in the sand “arrant nonsense”. 

Hitting back at trial in a shareholder class action, software company Nuix has told a judge it was “completely unfounded” to allege auditor PwC did not push back on management’s claims about its budget.

A judge has given the nod to an amendment in a class action over Victoria's COVID-era hotel quarantine program that will exclude non-retail and hospitality businesses, but he won't make the order operate retrospectively.