On 23 August 2022, the Supreme Court of Victoria released Supreme and County Court Review of Litigious Costs, a report written by the Hon. Justice Jack Forrest and Her Honour Kathryn Kings. The report recommends significant changes to the way costs are awarded, including replacing the much maligned ‘scale of costs’ used in the Supreme […]
On 5 May 2022, the Federal Court delivered its penalty judgment in the RI Advice proceedings, which were commenced by ASIC for alleged breaches of its obligations as a financial services licensee under section 912A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) following numerous cyber incidents. The Court made declarations of contraventions and ordered RI Advice […]
At the National Consumer Congress held in June 2022, the Chair of the ACCC, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, launched the ACCC’s Product Safety Priorities for 2022-23 under the theme “Protecting Tomorrow’s Consumers Today”. In this update, Scott Macoun and Trent O’Neill from W+K’s specialist Product Liability & Recall team look at the new product safety priorities, as […]
The New Zealand Law Commission’s long-awaited report on class action and litigation funding was released on 27 June 2022. The 483-page final report contains a broad range of recommendations, including a recommendation that there should be a Class Action Act and amendments to the High Court Rules. In this update, W+K’s Antony Holden and Michael […]
On 24 June 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision of Roe v Wade. The decision has been criticised widely, including by many world leaders, as it is likely to cause significant social and economic impacts, particularly for many of America’s most vulnerable women. In this update, W+K Associate Summer Walker sits […]
On 22 June 2022, the Queensland Parliament passed new laws banning claim farming of personal injury claims in the state. The Personal Injuries Proceedings and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (PIPOLA) seeks to end the proliferation of claim farming in Queensland through amendments to the Personal Injury Proceedings Act 2002 (PIPA), the Workers’ Compensation and […]
Recently, there has been considerable political discourse and public interest in the issue of gender affirmation surgery. In this update, W+K health law specialists Claudine Watson-Kyme and Marie-Clare Elder look at the legal position on gender dysphoria treatment in Australia and provide a brief history of the Family Court’s decisions regarding this issue. Click the […]
On 31 March 2022, the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 WA (WHS Act) came into effect. The major change for the insurance sector from the harmonised WHS legislation is that WHS penalties are no longer insurable. For insurers and brokers, this means it is important to ensure renewed policies do not contain terms that […]
With construction industry participants seeing an increase in costs, rise and fall clauses have been floated as a solution for easing current cost pressures. Essentially, a rise and fall clause in a construction contract shifts key project pricing risks from the contractor to the principal. In this update, W+K’s Construction PI specialists Aaron Bolton, Robert […]
The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore v GLJ [2022] NSWCA 78 The NSW Court of Appeal has overturned a first instance decision and stayed historic child abuse proceedings in circumstances where the alleged perpetrator had died before the allegations were put to him. The case was stayed despite evidence […]
