The applicants in a protracted class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia brought by borrowers who claim they were forced to default on their commercial loans have lost a bid to amend their pleadings, six years after the case was filed.
A lawyer for Forum Finance director Bill Papas has argued the alleged fraudster should be able to shield documents held by his former lawyer under a claim for legal professional privilege despite being a “fugitive” from contempt charges.
Real estate giant CBRE Group has won its appeal in a dispute with defunct fund manager City Pacific, which claimed the company negligently valued a Queensland marina at $27.3 million in 2006 and caused millions in losses.
A court has found that a Sydney consultant was unlawfully demoted by a supervisor who harassed her over her relationship with another employee.
Engineering company Worley is challenging an appeals court ruling that allowed a shareholder class action against it to continue, arguing the Full Court’s finding that opinions which “ought reasonably to have been held” should be disclosed to shareholders would lead to “absurd consequences”.
An appeals court’s finding that the federal government does not owe a duty of care to Australian kids to protect them from the effects of climate change will stand after the lead applicants declined to take the matter to the High Court.
The High Court has declined special leave to a class action to challenge a ruling that found dam operator Seqwater was not liable for the 2011 Queensland floods, after the state of Queensland and subcontractor Sunwater agreed to pay $440 million last year to settle their share of the liability in the long-running case.
Engineering firm CIMIC has agreed to pay $492 million to settle a long-running dispute with JKC Australia over construction for the $45 billion Ichthys LNG project in the Northern Territory.
Former Atanaskovic Hartnell lawyer Brody Clarke has had his name removed from the roll after the NSW Court of Appeal found he engaged in “dishonourable and disgraceful” conduct in stealing almost $10 million from a single client to feed his online gambling addiction.
Australian Mercedes-Benz dealers behind a $650 million lawsuit over the car maker’s decision to move to a fixed-price agency model have lost a bid for an “ambitious number” of dealers to view “super confidential” documents from the company’s head office in Germany.
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