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Corporates, regulators and lawyers alike will be poring over the Federal Court's reasons on Monday for dismissing a pivotal greenwashing case against gas giant Santos, but experts say the 250-page judgment is unlikely to deter further litigation.

Class action lawyers are expecting to see an increase in consumer and privacy cases this year, as well as a reinvigoration of shareholder litigation following a string of prominent losses, and many are counting on the High Court to clarify legal questions hanging over plaintiffs.

A landmark finding that Apple and Google misused their market power will boost competition claims -- including class actions -- against other dominant digital market players and could prompt the ACCC to consider action, experts told Lawyerly.  

A decision this week from the International Court of Justice holding countries have an obligation to protect the climate from greenhouse emissions will open the door to innovative climate litigation, experts told Lawyerly. 

Legal experts say climate-related litigation will continue -- and even increase -- despite a judge's dismissal this week of a class action by Torres Strait Islanders alleging the government was negligent in failing to protect them from the harmful effects of climate change.

A new statutory tort targeting serious invasions of privacy came into effect on Tuesday, raising new risks for companies, including publishers.

A judge recently made the rare decision to declass a representative case, and experts say we may see more of the difficult applications as class actions move into areas with greater variation in the circumstances of group members. 

Generative artificial intelligence is a game changer for the construction industry, promising better collaboration and fewer costly mistakes, but the technology also presents a host of thorny legal challenges, experts say.

Lawyers will struggle to hold providers of legal artificial intelligence services liable for negligence but the situation may change as the technology becomes more sophisticated, experts have told Lawyerly. 

A recent High Court decision that dealt a blow to builders and developers in NSW will usher in a return to a pre-2002 litigation regime, when plaintiffs only sued the parties with the deepest pockets, an expert has told Lawyerly.