A class action has lost its appeal to the High Court in a case alleging Advanta Seeds owed damages to farmers for the economic loss resulting from its negligence in producing contaminated grain sorghum seed, with the justices clarifying that a duty of care may be established only if responsibility is assumed.
A leading commercial barrister who was one the of the founding members of Banco Chambers has been appointed as a judge on the NSW Court of Appeal.
The High Court has been asked to overturn a Full Court decision finding lawyers can take a cut from a class action settlement under a solicitors’ common fund order and to finally settle the question of whether the court has the power to issue common fund orders at all.
The High Court is scheduled to hand down a judgment in a class action on Wednesday on the power of a product disclaimer to protect manufacturers from claims they owe a duty of care to protect purchasers from pure economic loss.
In submissions to the High Court, the applicant in a class action brought on behalf of Arrium shareholders against KMPG has attacked the Attorney-General’s argument that a contingency fee order is a neutral factor in assessing the accounting firm’s bid to move the case from Victoria.
A human rights group is continuing its fight for the release of Australians held in a Syrian refugee camp, bringing its case for a writ of habeas corpus to the High Court.
A unit of Insignia Financial, formerly IOOF, has paid $10.7 million in infringement notices for allegedly failing to put members’ default superannuation contributions into MySuper products.
The director of a Perth law firm fired a legal assistant by a text message that was generated with ChatGPT, the Fair Work Commission has found.
Four insurers have argued that class actions over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic should be de-classed, with one insurer saying group members cannot “go behind” a Full Court decision denying coverage for certain policyholders.
Although carefully reasoned, last week’s landmark judgment by the Full Federal Court finding power to grant contingency fees to class action solicitors has placed the question of statutory authority to award settlement common fund orders on more unsteady ground than before, experts say.