An independent costs consultant retained to assess the legal fees sought to be recouped from a settlement in a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities has denied he was the “dogsbody” of funder Mark Elliott during a fiery cross examination at trial over the costs of the litigation.
A week after silk Norman O’Bryan dropped his defence against allegations of misconduct in the running of a class action over the failure of Banksia Securities, his junior counsel, Michael Symons, has also conceded defeat, telling a court he too should be struck off the practitioners’ roll.
A judge has criticised a revised opt out notice in a class action against Suncorp over allegedly conflicted remuneration and again slammed the funder backing the case for sending a “disturbing” letter to group members contrived to achieve a commercial advantage.
The Insurance Council of Australia and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority have filed court proceedings that will test whether certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover apply to coronavirus-related claims.
An impending three-week trial for the Robodebt class action may be in danger due to stage 4 lockdown measures in place in Victoria to control a second wave of coronavirus cases, with the top lawyer for the class telling the court he might need to step down due to homeschooling obligations if the lockdown overlaps with the trial.
Mondelez has won its High Court challenge to a ruling on the method to be used for calculating workers’ personal days.
Thomson Geer has raided DLA Piper and Macpherson Kelley and picked up some of Australia’s top lawyers, one month after raiding Dentons’ Brisbane office, as it aims to become one of the country’s major law firms.
A class action investigation has been launched against the Victoria state government and private contractors over alleged failures in the state’s hotel quarantine program believed to be responsible for its second wave of coronavirus cases.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has warned of a serious risk of industry-wide class actions against the aged care sector over its handling of COVID-19, but if the largest plaintiffs law firms are planning litigation they are keeping their cards close to their chest.
An appeals court has been urged to uphold a judge’s $125 million penalty against Volkswagen in the ACCC’s case over the car maker’s emissions cheating, with a court-appointed contradictor saying the judge was “starved” of the information he required to assess whether a $75 million agreement brokered by the consumer watchdog was reasonable.
For information on rights and reprints, contact subscriptions@lawyerly.com.au
