Arguing that the court should not be “baulking at problems that have the potential to occur”, counsel for a class action against Ford is pushing back against a bid by the car maker to put the brakes on an upcoming virtual trial the company says will be too difficult and costly.
A judge has refused to delay a civil penalty hearing brought by ASIC against GetSwift, scheduled to begin in June, after the logistics company argued that the virtual hearing necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic would be prejudicial and the proceedings should be adjourned.
Sandalwood producer Quintis has agreed to settle two class actions by shareholders, but the claims against company founder Frank Wilson and auditor EY will proceed for now.
WA-based land developer Tina Bazzo and her partner Allen Caratti have failed in their challenge to a ruling that liquidators’ examinations should not be held in private despite a large scale ongoing criminal investigation of the pair.
The Australian arm of global telecommunications firm BT Group has filed legal action against a former chief operating officer who jumped ship to Japanese competitor NTT.
Lamenting that he now has less flexibility to manage commission rates, a judge has called for legislative intervention to give courts authority to regulate funding arrangements at the outset of class actions, a power stripped from them by the High Court late last year.
While law firms and barristers are bracing for work slowdowns due to the coronavirus, litigation funders told Lawyerly it’s business as usual for them.
A fair trial cannot be conducted in a virtual courtroom, the judge overseeing the criminal case against former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald has said in adjourning their hearing for five months.
Funding for a class action over the troubled Coolum Palmer Resort has been temporarily blocked while a company owned by Clive Palmer appeals a judgment in a separate lawsuit lodged by the billionaire to thwart the class action.
A liquidator who ‘provoked litigation’ must personally pay the costs of the proceedings brought by a creditor of defunct company Azmac because of his ‘unreasonable’ handling of the company’s liquidation, a court has found.
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