A judge has denied a law firm’s bid to stay a rival’s closed shareholder class action against construction giant Boral but warned courts must be alive to the potential for conflicts where lawyers stand to reap “very significant financial awards” from class action proceedings.
Administrators have lined up a buyer for a Forum Group entity, as a first creditors meeting confirms Westpac has the largest claim to any recoveries after an alleged $400 million fraud by the equipment leasing company.
Sydney lawyer Leigh Johnson has lost her appeal in a class action launched by investors who allegedly sank $12.3 million into a fraudulent sports betting scheme run by convicted conman Peter Foster.
The Full Federal Court has found that Liberty Mutual Insurance, but not QBE, is required to cover Icon Construction’s losses stemming from the Opal Tower disaster, which has caused the builder $31 million in losses.
A resident group’s last ditch attempt to prevent the NSW government from relocating a locally significant heritage building has been dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal, paving the way for the development of a $915 million museum in Parramatta.
Media company Nine, which is facing defamation claims from Ben Roberts-Smith over articles accusing him of war crimes, has asked the court to set aside two subpoenas from the decorated veteran related to a woman who has accused him of domestic violence, arguing the subpoenas act as a substitute for discovery.
The head of law firm Levitt Robinson has avoided being personally hit with costs in a franchisee’s lawsuit against failed restaurant chain Fogo Brazilia, despite a judge finding he made “serious misjudgments” in his handling of the case.
The ACCC’s claim that NSW Ports stymied competition when it signed a 50-year agreement with the state to be compensated if the Port of Newcastle built a container terminal was based on “mere speculative hopes”, a judge found in tossing the competition watchdog’s regulatory action.
Failed financial advisor Dr Roger Munro faces up to 12 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at the Brisbane District Court on Monday.
ASIC is challenging the dismissal of its enforcement action against payday lenders Cigno and BHF Solutions in a decision that found the companies did not need a licence to issue loans to hundreds of thousands of consumers.
For information on rights and reprints, contact subscriptions@lawyerly.com.au
