Mainzeal Property v. Yan & Ors This week, the New Zealand High Court awarded $36m in damages against directors of Mainzeal, once one of New Zealand’s leading property and construction companies, including former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley. The damages are the highest awarded for reckless trading in New Zealand’s history. The case raises a […]
The Victorian Supreme Court recently summarily dismissed the lead Plaintiffs’ claims in Block v Powercor, a bushfire class action issued against a Victorian electricity distributor. The decision is noteworthy as summary dismissals are rare, particularly in class actions and representative proceedings. While the decision largely turned on its facts, it reinforces the principle explained by the High […]
Kaboko Mining Limited v Van Heerden (No 3) [2018] FCA 2055 When an insurance policy includes a clause stating that cover will not extend to any loss based on the insolvency of a company, you need to be careful about identifying what actually caused the loss. In a recent case, the Federal Court rejected the […]
Kempsey Shire Council v Five Star Medical Centre Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 308 In February 2014, a landing aircraft collided with a kangaroo at Kempsey Aerodrome and was damaged. The owners of the aircraft Five Star Medical Centre Pty Ltd sued the owner of the airport Kempsey Shire Council in the District Court of NSW. The […]
Last week the ACT Court of Appeal found in favour of an occupier of a car park in a negligence case: Jennings v George Harcourt Management Pty Ltd [2018] ACTCA 50. The decision is a reminder that the issues of ‘foreseeable risk’ and ‘reasonable response’ must not be conflated when considering whether a party has […]
Bank of Queensland Ltd v AIG Australia Ltd [2018] NSWSC 1689 The NSW Supreme Court recently considered the application of a “related wrongful acts” aggregation provision in the context of a representative proceeding commenced against the insured, Bank of Queensland. The Court held that the representative proceeding itself constituted one “claim” under the policy, but […]
The Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 was introduced to Parliament on 20 September. While the Bill may sound innocuous, its scope and implications could significantly impact personal data security in Australia and make it easier for hackers to access personal data stored on devices. Technology commentators say it will be […]
Last week, The Australian Human Rights Commission released its fourth survey on the prevalence, nature and reporting of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces and the community. The results were not good, with one in three of the 10,000 Australians surveyed saying they had been sexually harassed at work. New data from the AHRC also shows […]
Last week the NSW Court of Appeal found in favour of a cleaning contractor in Argo Managing Agency Pty Ltd v Al Kammessy [2018] NSWCA 176. The Court reiterated that the duty of care owed by a cleaner is to exercise reasonable care to identify and remove potential hazards, not to guarantee that all hazards […]
On 13 June 2018, the High Court held that loss of future superannuation pension payments may be compensated as loss of earning capacity, but that the loss of future aged pension payments are not. In this update, our Melbourne team of Allison Hunt (Special Counsel), Andrew Seiter (Partner) and Jackson Pannam (Associate) explore the circumstances […]
