Western Australia

A judge hearing a dispute over Emerald Resources' takeover of Bullseye Mining has rejected a bid by Bullseye's former executive director to enjoin Emerald from retaining lawyers that previously represented her for a period of three weeks in an unrelated dispute.

Former senator Linda Reynolds has won $315,000 in damages in her defamation case against ex-staffer Brittany Higgins over social media posts that allegedly implied she mishandled rape allegations against Bruce Lehrmann.

Builder Q Group has defeated an application to enjoin it from instructing a law firm which allegedly failed to make a claim on time, with a judge finding a lawyer’s alleged omission did not mean he had a “personal interest” in the outcome of the case.

Two elections and three different Environment Ministers later, and a heritage application to protect Murujuga rock art from Woodside's activities on the North West Shelf remains undecided -- a delay blasted by a judge as unreasonable and perverse.

Online trading platform IG Markets must pay over $5.5 million in damages to a customer, with a court finding a contract term that purportedly allowed it to reverse transactions made in error was unfair.

A heritage bid to protect Murujuga's rock art in Western Australia has languished with the environment minister for more than three years, a court has heard, leaving gas giant Woodside to continue to threaten the sacred spot.

A judge has rejected claims that MinterEllison acted improperly towards a potential witness in a sexual harassment suit against the WA Department of Justice, saying the firm is entitled to make unsolicited contact with potential witnesses. 

A judge has rejected Roy Hill's bid for a declaration that two of its mining leases could not be impeached as long as they are the subject of a registered mortgage, saying it would preclude any challenges.

A prominent Perth property developer who claims he was defamed by two WAToday articles has lost his bid to plead the existence of a conspiracy between publisher Fairfax and others, including Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and the former leader of the WA Liberals.

Gold exploration company Zuleika Gold has to produce a draft technical report to Vango Mining as it seeks "significant damages' over a repudiated joint venture agreement, with a judge finding an affidavit from its solicitor put the report squarely in issue.