A judge has put off next month’s trial in one of two class actions brought by local councils against insurance JLT Risk Solutions over allegedly excessive premiums, but said the adjournment application would likely have failed if either side had put up a fight.
Two months after snagging one of Perth’s top energy litigators from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, global law firm Jones Day has lured another four lawyers from its US rival for the disputes team in Australia.
Qantas has resolved a lawsuit brought by the 64-year-old son of former chairman Sir Lenox Hewitt who alleged the airline’s policy of providing voluntary redundancy only to employees under 63 years of age was discriminatory.
A judge has agreed to temporarily suppress publication of a deed of settlement in a class action against the Northern Territory by youth detainees but ruled disclosure of the settlement sum is in the interests of justice and should not be kept secret.
Queensland crane company NQCranes wants to strike out the bulk of the ACCC’s amended case alleging a conspiracy with a multinational rival to divide the Brisbane and Newcastle markets, saying there was no evidence of the regulator’s new allegations of a second cartel agreement.
Sparke Helmore has secured a temporary reprieve in a $1 million negligence lawsuit against it, with a NSW Supreme Court judge staying the case for two weeks to allow the plaintiff property developer, which has been described as a “rudderless” firm, to get its house in order.
The ACCC has brought Federal Court action against major milk processor Lactalis Australia, the regulator’s first case for breaches of the dairy code of conduct.
A communications device was planted on an unarmed Afghan villager who was allegedly murdered by former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, a court overseeing the accused war criminal’s defamation trial has heard.
A judge has vacated next year’s trial in ASIC’s insider trading case against Westpac despite “misgivings”, and has made orders regarding confidential evidence after the Australian financial watchdog argued that handing the material to the bank could damage its relationship with its Hong Kong counterpart.
The lead applicant in a class action against CBA does not have the right to view fund management documents relevant to the case despite representing group members who share joint privilege with the bank over material, a judge has said, acknowledging the decision could create difficulties in class action proceedings.
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