Victoria will continue to be a magnet for class actions after the High Court shot down solicitors’ common fund orders as clashing with NSW law, but the door may still be open for garden state lawyers to try their luck in the Federal Court.
The High Court has unanimously found the Federal Court has no power to allow solicitors to take a cut of a settlement or judgment in a shareholder class action against Blue Sky, saying it would be contrary to rules against contingency fees in NSW.
Food giant Goodman Fielder has secured a $10.5 million judgment in a case against a former employee.
A former Cornwalls client has brought proceedings over a $486,000 legal bill, claiming the law firm failed to provide updated costs estimates and did not disclose counsel rates while acting in a tribunal matter against a builder.
A construction company working on accommodation for Rio Tinto FIFO workers has won its bid to set aside a $1 million creditor’s demand by a subcontractor, with a judge finding the demand was an abuse of process.
The federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund has taken a $50 million stake in Gina Rinehart-backed lithium miner Liontown Resources.
With plans to transform it into a mixed-use estate, Queensland developer Vitale Property Group has partnered with Metrics Credit Partners to acquire a large-scale industrial site on the Gold Coast.
Acciona’s bid to acquire the $500 million East Rockingham waste-to-energy project in Western Australia is facing more uncertainty after the ACCC said it had paused its review of the proposal.
Gilbert + Tobin has strengthened its real assets team with the appointment of a partner recruited from global asset manager Blackstone.
A judge has spiked Piper Alderman’s class action alleging Google abuses its dominance in digital advertising, favouring a competing case run jointly by two other firms, despite suggesting such arrangements hinted at lawyers “passing the prize around”.
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