A judge overseeing competing class actions against AMP over allegedly excessive superannuation fees has signed off on an agreement by two rival law firms to consolidate their cases, avoiding a potentially costly and drawn out beauty parade.
Grocon has won the right to appeal a $13.9 million interlocutory judgment in an ongoing lease dispute with property management firm Dexus, amid concerns that the construction company would be deemed insolvent if it was forced to pay the interim demand notice.
The Supreme Court of Queensland has signed off on a settlement reached in a shareholder class action against plaintiffs firm Shine Lawyers, the first settlement of a class action in the state.
AMP has added two law firms to separately represent its subidiaries in one of two class actions alleging it charged its superannuation members excessive fees.
The judge overseeing proceedings brought against logistics company GetSwift has refused the corporate regulator’s request for another year’s worth of documents, saying it could effectively require the company to start the discovery process over again.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has lost a bid for the documents behind an Australian Federal Police warrant to search its headquarters, with a Federal Court judge criticising the media organisation for embarking on a “fishing expedition”.
The original solicitors who stepped down from leading a class action against Westpac unit BankSA amid abuse of process allegations will bring separate proceedings in the Federal Court seeking a bigger slice of the multi-million dollar settlement sum to cover their costs.
A senior partner at a Sydney-based law firm has denied he made a “deliberate decision” to withhold advice from a former client suing for alleged breach of duties and conflict of interest over a rejected $4.45 million settlement in an employment dispute with Westpac.
A restructuring and insolvency solicitor who is suing Russells Lawyers for summarily dismissing him has largely won a discovery dispute over evidence in the case, with a judge ruling the lawyer could access communications between any of the partners related to his termination two years ago.
The Federal Court will hear two high-stakes trade mark appeals by the a2 Milk Company together, after IP Australia delegates found two marks containing “a2”, which is a protein found in cow’s milk, were not inherently adapted to distinguish its products.
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