The Full Court is set to weigh in on whether judges who make adverse findings on credibility during the liability phase of a hearing should recuse themselves from determining penalty, an issue which a judge has said may require a new court protocol.
A unit of construction company Fletcher Building has been hit with a class action over its Pro-Fit pipes, which have been blamed by Western Australian builder BGC for plumbing failures in thousands of Perth homes.
Senator Linda Reynolds has given evidence about the fallout of media reporting about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, saying she experienced health problems from the stress and felt she could not defend herself in the public eye since it was a criminal matter.
A judge has granted Brittany Higgins’ bid to subpoena text messages Linda Reynolds exchanged with accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s senior counsel, while also granting the senator’s bid for communications related to a fundraising page for Higgins.
As the Fair Work Commission takes its plan to appoint an administrator to the construction division of the CFMEU to court, a judge has recused himself from hearing the case after acting against the union while at the bar.
A judge has signed off on a $23.1 million cut for funder Augusta of a $100 million settlement in a class action against Colonial First State, which he previously called “strange” and said may not reflect the risk the funder shared with Slater & Gordon in running the case.
Car park operator Secure Parking has been hit with a $10.95 million penalty for misleading consumers in major cities about its car reservation service, causing them to be late or miss appointments and work commitments entirely.
IP Australia has rejected an Italian cheese lobby’s bid to block an American cheese maker from using a trade mark containing the word ‘asiago’, saying there was “very little evidence” Australians were aware of the cheese at all.