An Australian court will get a chance to weigh in on whether Apple and Google violated their dominant position in the app marketplace by requiring developers to use their payment systems or face a 30 per cent fee, when trial kicks off Monday in Fortnite game maker Epic Games’ case and two related class actions against the tech giants.
A judge preparing to deliver his decision in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Ten has sought clarity from the TV network on submissions addressing alleged inconsistencies in Brittany Higgins’ settlement deed with the Commonwealth, querying whether the alleged rape victim should be recalled to the stand.
A judge has refused to add 27 new plaintiffs to a quasi group proceeding against a Canberra developer brought in the ACT, where class actions are not permitted, saying the law firm running the case must first gets its “pleading house in order”.
Online florist Bloomex has been slapped with a $1 million penalty for “serious” misleading representations about its discounts and star ratings system.
Clayton Utz has snagged a big fish from Baker McKenzie, luring the head of the US firm’s restructuring and insolvency practice group.
Hall & Wilcox has recruited a mergers and acquisitions lawyer with cross-border expertise from EY to bolster its corporate practice in Sydney.
In a loss for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a judge has found that comparison website Finder did not need a financial services licence to sell its cryptocurrency product Finder Earn because it was not a financial product.
The Environmental Defenders Office has appointed a team of external lawyers, including Gilbert + Tobin and a senior barrister, to review its processes after a judge found aspects of its case over Santos’ Barossa pipeline were made up and “lacking in integrity”.
A shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard is seeking approval for a $23 million settlement which will see only $7.86 million go to group members, telling the court that the funder and law firm that ran the case have agreed to take a haircut on the deductions they’re entitled to.
The Kingdom of Spain has been ordered to pay over $50,000 in security on an interlocutory application, with a judge finding the country “deserves no sympathy” following its failure to satisfy a judgment debt of some $200 million.
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