The High Court has granted special leave to the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner in a case dealing with how the CFMEU’s history as a serial offender should have been considered when assessing the penalty the union should face for breaches of the Fair Work Act.
Senior barrister Sue Chrysanthou has rejected claims that she has failed in her duties as a barrister by representing federal minister Christian Porter in his defamation proceedings against the ABC over coverage of rape allegations.
Grant Thornton has won approval to a bring a cross-claim against Forge Group, just three months ahead of trial in the collapsed engineering company’s case against the accounting firm and ten former directors for their alleged negligence in relation to its “uneconomic” purchase of CTEC in 2012.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith is seeking all “covert recordings” held by Nine and revealed in a number of news publications last month in which the former soldier said it was his “sole mission” to destroy the journalists behind allegedly defamatory articles accusing him of war crimes.
A former executive of hospital operator Healthe Care Pty has pleaded guilty to one charge of insider trading for acquiring a large number of shares in Pulse Health while in possession of inside information about the private hospital operator.
The High Court has denied special leave to unions representing 20,000 Qantas workers who were stood down during the coronavirus pandemic to challenge a ruling that they were not entitled to paid sick or compassionate leave.
Ernst & Young has delayed in filing its evidence in a lawsuit by Sydney-based investment firm London City Equities over its auditing of collapsed soda ash maker Penrice after hiring Holding Redlich to replace Allens just a few months before a mediation deadline.
The stage is set for a beauty parade of two shareholder class actions against Freedom Foods and Deloitte, and the judge overseeing the cases has embraced the recommendation of the High Court to appoint an independent barrister to represent group members in the contest.
Commercial and class action firm Banton Group is investigating a shareholder class action against embattled technology company Nuix in relation to its pre-IPO disclosures which could also ensnare shareholder Macquarie and its executives, auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and the joint lead managers on its float.
A judge has refused to sign off on $13.8 million in fees sought by law firm Maurice Blackburn as part of a $44.5 million settlement in a class action against Woolworths, saying the amount was “intuitively out of the range” of what was a reasonable legal bill for the case.
For information on rights and reprints, contact subscriptions@lawyerly.com.au
