Senator Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown has told a court she refused directions from two ministers to make a report to federal police, saying Brittany Higgins had not yet alleged she was sexually assaulted by fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann and that the ministers were “covering themselves”.
A judge has found that a lawsuit against the state of NSW over hundreds of allegedly illegal strip searches conducted by NSW police at music festivals over a six-year period should move forward as a class action.
A judge has rejected a top orthopaedic surgeon’s bid to uncover the names of 13 sources who gave information to a Nine journalist, preferring the public interest in protecting the sources’ identities and noting their fears of reprisals by the Sydney surgeon.
A judge has refused a bid by the ACT Police Chief to intervene on behalf of the AFP in Shane Drumgold SC legal challenge to the findings of an inquiry into the prosecution of Brittany Higgins’ assault claims against Bruce Lehrmann, but has allowed six police officers to be joined to defend the findings.
The judge overseeing Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson has rejected a bid by the former chief of staff to then defence minister Linda Reynolds to avoid giving evidence on the basis of “harm it may cause to her health conditions”.
The former chief of staff for MP Linda Reynolds has denied that Brittany Higgins disclosed an alleged sexual assault to her in March 2019.
A Queensland MP known to Brittany Higgins has told a court that the former Liberal staffer told him that a colleague had raped her, just days after she was allegedly assaulted by Bruce Lehrmann.
Two law firms running competing class actions against Qantas over flight cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic have agreed to cooperate after a judge took them to task for revising their funding positions in the lead up to a courtroom battle.
The percentage of senior women barristers who were briefed on cases in the past financial year dropped from the previous year, according to the latest report on the peak legal body’s equitable briefing initiative. The proportion of all counsel fees going to women also took a slide, the Law Council of Australia said.
Acciona has prevailed in a fight with subcontractor EnerMech over a $10 million progress payment, which a judge found was instead an attempt by EnerMech to claim a credit in relation to security paid to Acciona.
For information on rights and reprints, contact subscriptions@lawyerly.com.au
