Business of Law
Defamation lawyer who defeated Roberts-Smith case among 23 new silks in NSW
Twenty-three barristers in NSW have joined the silk ranks, including a leading defamation lawyer who was on the Fairfax legal team that defeated accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation suit.
Class Actions
Western Sydney University hit with class action over unaccredited degree
Western Sydney University is facing a class action alleging it misled students into studying a health engineering degree that was unaccredited, on the heels of similar claims being leveled at the University of Newcastle.
Employment
Class action funder admits ‘thrusting young bucks’ remark, denies discriminating
Litigation funder Woodsford has struck back at a discrimination suit by a former female director, admitting its CEO described her male colleague as a "thrusting young buck" but denying the phrase was gendered.
Business of Law
Thomson Geer scoops up Baker McKenzie banking partner, special counsel
Thompson Geer has nabbed a partner and a special counsel from Baker McKenzie to grow its Melbourne-based banking and finance team.
Class Actions
CBA unit to pay $119.5M to settle consumer class action
Commonwealth Bank's New Zealand unit, ASB Bank, has agreed to pay $119.35 million to settle a class action alleging it failed to repay fees and interest wrongly charged to 150,000 customers who took out home or personal loans.
Intellectual Property
‘Argumentative and amorphous’: Startup attacks Fortescue’s call for seized docs in trade secrets row
Green iron startup Element Zero is challenging a bid by Fortescue for access to nine million seized documents in their trade secrets spat, saying its rival has not met the test for proving inadequate discovery of material.
Tax
ATO officer lied, tampered with evidence, judge says in staying fraud case
A judge has ordered federal prosecutors to drop a criminal tax fraud case against a medical researcher, finding an ATO officer lied and tampered with evidence during the probe.
Securities
ASIC approves Cboe’s application to compete with ASX for IPOs
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has approved Cboe’s application to list companies on its platform, in direct competition with market operators, including the Australian Securities Exchange.
White Collar
Man sentenced for insider trading ahead of $20M Cann Group share placement
A Victorian man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced for trading on insider information ahead of the public announcement of a $20 million share placement for medical cannabis company Cann Group.
ASIC
ASIC says 15 auditors likely did not comply with independence rules
A recent review by ASIC found 15 auditors of different sizes failed to demonstrate compliance with independence and conflict of interest obligations.
