After almost five years before the courts, a judge has approved an approximately $120 million settlement of five class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal, including a “very substantial” $43 million in fees and disbursements for one of the plaintiffs firms.
The refusal by a Village Roadshow Theme Parks worker to take one day’s annual leave every week while she is on the JobKeeper subsidy was unreasonable, and showed a lack of sympathy for the company’s plight during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fair Work Commission has found.
The prospect of returning to the office may be increasing levels of anxiety among some lawyers, who work in a profession rife with mental health issues that have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an industry mental health manager.
A class action launched over the Scotsburn bushfire that burnt down 12 homes and ravaged over 4,000 hectares in Victoria in December 2015 has reached a $10.5 million settlement with agricultural machinery company Agrison and insurer Auto & General Insurance Company.
A leading class actions lawyer from Maurice Blackburn “stumbled across” allegedly confidential information embedded in a Treasury Wine Estates’ shareholder presentation and used it in the law firm’s class action pleadings, a court has heard.
The daughter of Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has signalled an intention to appeal a decision staying proceedings against her mother for allegedly oppressive conduct in relation to the $4 billion family trust.
From a hand sanitiser called Covidfighter to delivery services branded The Quarantine Concierge, the coronavirus pandemic has led to numerous trade mark applications to IP Australia seeking to capitalise on the outbreak. And while some applications will be expensive failures, others have good prospects for success, say Spruson & Ferguson’s Blake Knowles and Rhiannan Solomon.
A new parliamentary inquiry into the class action regime in Australia will go ahead as planned, Attorney-General Christian Porter said Wednesday, a move backed by defence firms as strongly as it was denounced by lawyers for plaintiffs.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has won court approval to bring new claims against BlueScope Steel for allegedly seeking to induce competitor OneSteel to engage in cartel conduct.
A contest of two competing shareholder class actions against Westpac over millions of alleged anti-money laundering breaches has ended with one law firm and its funder bowing out.
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