In a first for a Big Four firm, PwC has made good on its promise to appoint an independent chair to its board and has tasked law firm Webb Henderson and former top judge with tracking its progress on other commitments made in the wake of its tax leaks scandal.
The Legal Practice Board’s decision to audit lawyers at a compensation firm following a complaint about paralegals allegedly engaging in unqualified legal practice has been quashed, with a court finding the law didn’t permit investigation of individual solicitors.
A judge has struck out an allegation by the builder of Sydney’s Opal Tower that insurer Liberty Mutual breached its duty of good faith and has warned Icon to carefully consider whether to re-plead the claim.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved France-based Louis Dreyfus’ proposed acquisition of ASX-traded cotton gin operator Namoi Cotton, after accepting an undertaking that allayed its competition concerns.
Johnson Winter Slattery has appointed a technology and communications specialist, bolstering the ranks of its team in Sydney.
A Gadens-led class action against former Quintis director Frank Wilson has settled, but a second class action filed by a rival firm has flagged a potential claim on the settlement funds over a cause of action said to have been “picked up parasitically”.
Plaintiff firm Maurice Blackburn will foot the bill for the unsuccessful class action against Monsanto over weed killer Roundup, but the company’s reluctance to split the trial in two has come back to bite it.
A judge has temporarily suppressed details of a lawsuit by Super Retail Group’s former top lawyer, but he warned the retailer it would face a high bar if it sought to persuade him to keep the claims under wraps after a first case management hearing.
Regional air carrier Rex Airlines has filed for voluntary administration after failing to compete with Qantas and Virgin on major routes.
The Full Federal Court has revived an out-of-time defamation case over an episode of A Current Affair, finding that it would not have been reasonable to file the proceedings within a year given the “spectre of criminal proceedings” against Queensland man Geoffrey Landrey.
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