Litigation

A court has ordered a stay of proceedings in a Melbourne property dispute, saying whether it could hear the case "better" than VCAT, as alleged by builder Brocon, was not the point.

A prominent Perth property developer who claims he was defamed by two WAToday articles has lost his bid to plead the existence of a conspiracy between publisher Fairfax and others, including Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and the former leader of the WA Liberals.

Law firm HWL Ebsworth, which was found liable for negligence over advice on a Parramatta land development, has lost its opposition to a referee process for calculating damages.

Parkview Constructions is looking to settle a second case over alleged combustible cladding at Australia Towers in Sydney Olympic Park.

Energy giant Santos has won a dispute over its Gladstone LNG project, described by a court as "litigation on a monumental scale", securing a $692 million judgment against engineering firm Fluor with the help of four silks.

IGA can pursue its Victoria Supreme Court challenge to a decision allowing up to four supermarkets to operate in Shepparton, with an appeal bench finding the court can review planning decisions for jurisdictional error.

Builder Xela has failed in its bid to wind up the owner of a development to recoup a $776,000 debt owing under the Security of Payment Act, with a court finding that despite an unwillingness to pay, the owner is solvent. 

A former EY partner accused by the ATO of promoting a tax avoidance scheme over property developments has told a trial judge the commissioner has "overreached".

The administrators of the Dartbrook coal mine in the New South Wales' Hunter Valley have won six more months before holding a second creditors meeting, with a judge convinced a pending approval to extend the mine’s life until 2033 could make or break a sale.

The High Court has declined to weigh in on when a court should step in when the machinery governing the entitlement to payments in a contract breaks down, in a dispute between builder Glenvill and Amcor over asbestos remediation at an industrial site in the Melbourne suburb of Alphington.