Litigation

Rejecting Victoria's bid for a quick win in a case by Pakenham Place Shopping Centre over the development of a new hospital in Melbourne's southeast, a judge has warned against "last-resort" summary dismissal applications.

Building surveyor McKenzie Group has denied negligence claims in a case over the use of combustible cladding on Lendlease's Exo apartment complex at Melbourne's Docklands, telling a court the construction giant didn't rely on its advice and switched the cladding without its knowledge. 

Ex-South Australian senator and self-proclaimed transparency warrior Rex Patrick has been hit with a higher maximum costs order in his case seeking documents about the $12 billion Snowy 2.0 renewables project.

'Carpark King' Damian Lester has failed to persuade the Federal Court to stop law firm ERA Legal from representing lenders that he alleges engaged in unconscionable conduct over a $66.7 loan.

A judge has stayed a judgment under the Security of Payment Act, finding that “exceptional circumstances” were not needed to justify such an order in light of a recent judgment that issued a rare stay of a SOPA determination.

Melbourne builder Cobild has filed a lawsuit against a developer arguing it must return a $497,000 bank guarantee under a contract to build a $50 million office complex.

Salter Brothers had successfully defended a challenge to the approval of a development application for a mixed-use project in Brisbane's south adjacent to the Mercure Hotel.

The owners corporation of a 36-unit apartment block in North Sydney that has been locked in a long-running fight with the developers over defects has won $2.5 million after the parties settled on the eve of the trial.

Finding the documents are not relevant to the dispute, a judge has refused access by Martinus Rail to Qube's agreements with other subcontractors working on Sydney's $4 billion Moorebank Intermodal Terminal.

The Toowoomba Council has asked the High Court to overturn a ruling which found that a 4,000-space car park it operates at the Grand Central shopping centre, where its employees are allowed to park, qualifies as a commercial parking station that is subject to tax.