Westpac has criticised Shine Lawyers for allegedly turning a registration and opt out notice to class action members into a ‘sales pitch’ designed to book-build for the firm, saying the High Court’s recent common fund ruling forbade approval of anything designed to boost the commercial viability of a case.
Suspended rugby player Jack de Belin has hit the publisher of The Daily Telegraph with a defamation lawsuit over an article, cartoon and tweet that allegedly implied he was a “rapist” and a “despicable person”.
Supermarket giant Coles may be hit with a class action after it was revealed on Tuesday that the company owes staff in its supermarket and liquor businesses at least $20 million in pay.
A major litigation funder in Australia is weighing its options after the High Court ended the practice of common fund orders and the Victorian Government introduced a bill allowing contingency fees, options that include establishing its own law firm
The ACCC has approved Hong Kong-based China Mengniu Dairy Company’s acquisition of Lion Dairy & Drinks, saying the deal was not likely to substantially lessen competition in the raw milk market.
A Sydney criminal barrister is challenging a ruling that she engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct by performing unnecessary work for her client and threatening to cancel a visit to see him in prison unless his father coughed up $5,000 first.
Dam operator Seqwater will appeal its loss in a long-running class action over the 2011 Queensland floods that destroyed over 2,000 homes, a move derided by the lawyer for the flood victims, who called for “an end to the injustice” her clients have suffered.
A former managing director of Australian civil infrastructure contractor WBHO Infrastructure and his firm have lost their bid to cross-examine the company’s instructing solicitor at Corrs Chambers Westgarth as part of a $1 million share dispute that followed his termination.
A former prosecutor working for the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions in its sexual offences division has won a $435,000 judgment by the state’s Supreme Court after being diagnosed with depression and PTSD during her time working there.
Contingency fees are one step closer to becoming a reality in Australia, after the Victorian Parliament voted to advance a bill that would allow lawyers in the state to earn a percentage of recoveries in class actions.
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