A funder bankrolling a class action against the NSW government over the construction of Sydney’s $16 billion Westconnex tunnel is locked in a dispute with the lead applicants over $135,000 held in a trust account, and wants to replace the plaintiffs and their solicitors, the third group of lawyers to run the case.
A senior barrister has filed another suit against Telstra alleging it flags his emails to Bigpond addresses as spam and fails to send them, after suing the telco for allegedly falsely promising he could keep his chambers’ phone numbers when switching to the NBN.
A judge has ordered Seven West-owned publication The West Australian to pay a former public servant $180,000 in damages over an article about an allegation of fraud that had “a sensationalist overtone”.
Law firm Johnson Winter Slattery has recruited energy and resources specialist Nick Thorne for the firm’s Brisbance office, an appointment that represents a reunion for a former Corrs Chambers Westgarth trio.
The Dietitians Association of Australia can’t register a logo featuring the words ‘accredited nutritionist’ as a trade mark, with a delegate agreeing with a competing nutritionist group that the association should not have a monopoly over the highly descriptive term.
Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.
The Federal Court is set to become a more attractive forum for class actions now that the Full Court has confirmed it has power to make orders granting solicitors a contingency fee from any settlement or judgment in a group proceeding.
A unit of petrol store chain EG Australia has sued Ashurst and LegalVision alleging they breached their implied duty of care through advice given to Woolworths about the assignment of a disputed Sydney petrol station lease.
OTR Group’s network of Smokemart and Giftbox stores face a potential class action that would allege the chains breached employment laws by depriving workers of breaks during shifts.
Fashion retailer Mosaic Brands has denied claims by the consumer cop that it failed to deliver hundreds of thousands of products to customers within advertised time frames, saying the delays were reasonable given COVID-19 and the failures of logistics and delivery partners, including Australia Post.
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