Fairfax Media has failed in its appeal of a judgment that found the publisher defamed Chinese-Australian businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing in a Sydney Morning Herald article that linked him to an international bribery scandal.
AFT Pharmaceuticals has lost its challenge to a ruling that ads claiming its painkiller Maxigesic is more effective than Nuremol were misleading and deceptive, with the Full Federal Court saying the primary judge did not err in finding the ads lacked an adequate scientific basis.
Billionaire Clive Palmer has lost his appeals court fight to shut down criminal proceedings alleging his resort company breached takeover laws, with three judges saying his claims were untenable.
The move by Australia’s highest courts to vacate in-person hearings in the face of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have only a minor impact on cases in the short term, lawyers say, but the delays to trials and other major hearings will have a flow-on effect that could be felt for years to come.
HWL Ebsworth is on the hook for the legal costs of an unfair dismissal case won by ex-partner Tim Griffiths, and the law firm must pay almost two years of legal bills on an indemnity basis after it twice refused an offer of settlement.
A MinterEllison employee has tested positive to the new coronavirus and is now in self isolation, as are all the colleagues they were recently in contact with.
BHP has failed in a bid to shut down a class action over the Fundao dam failure pending criminal proceedings in Brazil, with a judge ruling the mining giant would not be prejudiced if the case proceeded for now.
A unit of Telstra contractor Tandem has lost its bid to de-class a ‘sham’ contracting class action brought on behalf of telecommunications workers who claim they were denied benefits by being misclassified as contractors.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued guidelines on consumers’ rights to refunds if a flight or event is shuttered due to the coronavirus, saying consumer guarantees could be affected if cancellation are caused by government restrictions.
The Australian arm of French investment banking giant Societe Generale is facing four criminal charges for allegedly failing to comply with its obligations to keep client money in separate bank accounts.
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