Subcontractor Ventia Utility Services had lost its bid to recover $5.6 million in alleged overpayments to class action group members from co-defendant Western Power, after its liability was reduced on appeal in a representative proceeding over the 2014 Perth Hills bushfire.
A court fight has broken out between a vaccine developer and South Australia’s Flinders University over the supply of mice and access to a lab at the college, with the professor’s lawyer declaring the battle “literally a matter of life and death”.
Aldi is seeking to have a class action alleging it systematically underpaid workers across Australia to the tune of $150 million summarily dismissed, after claiming it was served with a “bad pleading”.
A judge has handed a partial win to homewares brand Bed Bath N’ Table, finding rival House misled consumers by opening a sub-brand called House Bed & Bath but rejecting the retailer’s trade mark infringement claims.
International law firm HFW has lured a team of eight lawyers from Clyde & Co, led by a partner known for his litigation funding practice.
The country’s most experienced class action law firm won two and lost two in last year’s beauty parades before the courts, showing track record is not everything when it comes to winning carriage of cases and that picking the winner can be a tricky business. From line-ball decisions to law firm team-ups and the lowest contingency fee order yet, here’s how 2023’s class action contests went down.
A former Atanaskovic Hartnell client is seeking special leave to challenge a judgment from the NSW Court of Appeal that found self-represented law firms can recover costs for work done by their own solicitors, urging the High Court to intervene to clarify a judgment eliminating the so-called Chorley exception.
Energy company Santos has defeated a challenge by a Tiwi Islander traditional custodian to the construction of a pipeline for its $5.6 billion Barossa gas project, with a judge rejecting expert evidence about risks to cultural heritage.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has lost its opposition to the registration of three trade marks by pay on demand company BeforePay, with a delegate finding that consumers of banking and financial services were unlikely to be confused by the marks and acted with high “care and attention”.
Developer Centurion Australia Investments has lost an appeal in a dispute with builder APM Group in which it argued that its RMIT Village student accommodation falls under laws applying to domestic buildings.
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