The latest on group costs orders

By: Amanda Beattie and Natasha Chand The first settlement involving a group costs order (GCO) was approved last week.¹ This marks the next stage in the GCO process, which commenced just over 4 years ago when the new provisions were introduced in Victoria. GCOs – a recap Under s 33ZDA of the Supreme Court Act 1986 […]

Understanding the right to disconnect and how it will affect your business

By: Sian Gilbert and Dexter Cabal At a glance From 26 August 2024, employees of organisations that employ 15 or more people will have a ‘right to disconnect’ outside of their normal working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable. Employees of small business employers will have the right to disconnect from 26 August 2025. Whether an […]

Passenger protection a key focus of Australian Government ‘Aviation White Paper’

By: James Cooper and Merinda Stewart Yesterday, the Australian Government released its long-awaited Aviation White Paper – Towards 2050, setting out the Government’s plans for the aviation industry in Australia for the next two and a half decades, and building on its previous National Aviation Policy White Paper in 2009. We set out the key […]

A closer look at Cladding Safety Victoria’s ‘Compliance in building design’ report

By: Sarah Metcalfe, Andrew Brennan and Nick Lux At a glance Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) has released a report investigating who is responsible for the use of non-compliant combustible cladding in Victoria. CSV reviewed original plans and permits for 1,000 privately owned apartment buildings and concluded that responsibility for the ‘widespread misapplication of Victoria’s regulatory […]

Another shareholder class action loss – CBA class actions thrown out

By: Amanda Beattie and Jonathon Ferraro At a glance Judgment in favour of CBA was handed down last month1 in respect of two consolidated shareholder class actions2. The actions alleged that CBA breached its continuous disclosure obligations and mislead or deceived shareholders in relation to compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws. The […]

Marine: Essential maritime legal authorities – Tallow Commodities and liability for charges under a contract of carriage

By: Naraya Lamart, Joseph Nicholls and Emma Campbell Issue 1 – Tallow Commodities and liability for charges under a contract of carriage Our Marine + Transport team are launching a marine series to provide marine insurers and their insureds with short reviews of the key authorities on legal issues arising out of the marine insurance […]

David Kearney on Wotton Kearney’s growth and the need for a ‘very clear vision’

Our Chief Executive Partner David Kearney recently sat down with Jerome Doraisamy at The Lawyers Weekly Show to discuss W+K’s incredible growth story – from half a dozen staff in one office to over 700 staff in ten offices across three countries – and how a clear vision from the start has helped the firm […]

Mind the (third-party) gap this Privacy Awareness Week 2024

By: Kieran Doyle, Nicole Gabryk, Nick Martin and Olivija Radinovic For this year’s Privacy Awareness Week, the OAIC is calling on entities to ‘power up’ privacy – to take control and to step things up. Privacy regulators from across Australia issued a joint statement for Privacy Awareness Week which set out more details for this […]

It’s back! Contracts of Insurance Bill introduced to the House

By: Antony Holden, Caroline Laband, Michael Cavanaugh and Colette Clayton The Contracts of Insurance Bill, previously referred to as the Insurance Contracts Bill, has (finally) been introduced to the House. The Bill looks to consolidate and replace six Acts and the surrounding principles and case law that currently govern New Zealand insurance law. The most […]

A warning to other prospective defamation plaintiffs who escape the lions’ den and are tempted to go back for their hat – lessons learned from the Lehrmann case

By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Blake Pappas and Bella Marazita The Federal Court’s decision in Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Lehrmann case) serves as another cautionary tale for prospective plaintiffs who are tempted to use defamation litigation as a vehicle to challenge serious allegations of criminal wrongdoing in order to vindicate themselves. The Lehrmann […]