The era of online hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic has made advocacy more challenging for counsel representing parties in litigation, but a happy consequence of the virtual courtroom is an end to intimidation, harassment and in some cases bullying by male barristers and judges, female barristers have told Lawyerly.
Victoria’s lawmakers have passed a fiercely-debated bill that lifts the ban on contingency fees, making the state the first in the country to allow lawyers to take a percentage cut of any judgment or settlement in class actions.
Norway-based shipping company Wallenius Wilhlmsen Ocean AS has pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal cartel conduct, but told a court the penalty should be discounted from the maximum by over 50 per cent.
A Marshall Islands-based binary options trader has been hit with a $1.8 million penalty after a judge found it engaged in the “deliberate deception of vulnerable people”.
The competition cop has given its blessing to Australian Finance Group’s $120 million acquisition of rival Connective Group, after raising concerns the deal could squeeze smaller players out of the mortgage aggregator market.
The competition regulator has raised concerns about Google’s planned acquisition of fitness device company Fitbit, saying the $3 billion tie-up could further cement the dominance of the search engine giant in online advertising.
Queensland’s two largest electricity generators are facing a potential class action over alleged “bidding games” designed to artificially inflate consumers’ electricity bills.
Labour hire company WorkPac has asked the High Court to weigh in on a decision that grants entitlements to casual workers with regular shifts, a ruling it says could have a “devastating impact” on companies if allowed to stand.
A powerful US business lobbying group should not be allowed to influence Australian politicians as they consider reforms to the country’s class action regime, two leading plaintiffs firms have said. But a lawyer for the group said singling it out was hypocritical given how many overseas litigation funders have hired firms to represent their interests in the current class action debate.
More law firms may soon be targeted in a lawsuit brought by defunct financial advisor Dover Financial alleging three law firms provided negligent advice concerning an inaptly titled ‘client protection policy’, which a judge recently found was “highly misleading” and “an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak”.
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