A former Fair Work Commission vice president has sued the ABC for allegedly tricking him into participating in a Four Corners interview about his relationship with controversial union figure Kathy Jackson, who was found to have misused $1.4 million in union funds.
WA premier Mark McGowan’s text messages between Kerry Stokes and the WA Attorney General have been revealed at the trial in Clive Palmer’s defamation case, including an exchange in which the state’s leader thanks the media baron for the “marvellous front pages”.
The access to justice and efficiency objectives of the 30-year class action regime would be better served by more active scrutiny at the point of commencement, say Allens partners Belinda Thompson and Jenny Campbell.
The High Court has ruled that the “direct and far-reaching ramifications” of a contract between the federal government and Tasmania’s two major airports justifies an order for declaratory relief sought by local councils about the obligation of the airports’ operators to pay rates.
An appeal by billionaire Clive Palmer and his mining company Mineralogy has succeeded in reinstating parts of their defence attacking the state of mind of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CITIC in allegedly applying commercial pressure over the $5.8 billion Sino Iron project in Western Australia.
A judge has come down hard on a settlement in class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s, saying group members had been kept in the dark and the costs to be paid to the plaintiffs’ firm did not add up.
A class action settlement with Woolworths which “troubled” a Federal Court judge has been abandoned, with the lead applicants resuming their bid to intervene in a parallel proceeding brought by the Fair Work Ombudsman against the supermarket giant.
HWL Ebsworth has told a judge the law firm’s omission of a mutual debt liability clause in a joint venture contract could not have led former client Dairycorp to lose a $130 million opportunity to develop land northwest of Sydney.
As we reach the 30-year anniversary of the modern form of class action in Australia, an enduring characteristic of class action practice in this country is that the area is not well-suited to those who enjoy certainty or predictability, say Jason Betts, Aoife Xuereb and Melissa Gladstone-Joyce of Herbert Smith Freehills.
The NSW Supreme Court’s new Chief Justice has used his maiden speech to lament how remote hearings and working from home has led to the “insidious depersonalisation” of the legal profession, with half-empty chambers and solicitor’s offices losing their soul and personality.
For information on rights and reprints, contact subscriptions@lawyerly.com.au
