Recent data out yesterday showed that 33 new class actions were launched in the 12 months to June 2015, a significant increase on prior years. The threat of a class action is now a leading risk facing Australian companies and there are a plethora of claimant law firms and litigation funders competing to issue the […]
On 12 November 2014, the High Court handed down its decision in Hunter and New England Local District Health v McKenna & Simon [2014] HCA 44, which revisits the circumstances in which a common law duty will exist alongside obligations created by statute. The case involved tragic circumstances where a man with a history of […]
In the recent Federal Court decision of Robinson v Kenny [2014] FCA 988, her Honour Justice Farrell considered the conduct of an architect in respect of representations made concerning the price (or likely price) of a client’s building works. Her Honour found that the architect engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct when the building works […]
In a decision that will no doubt be greeted with relief by builders and their insurers, on 8 October 2014 the High Court of Australia delivered its much awaited decision in Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v The Owners – Strata Plan No 61288 [2014] HCA 36. The High Court has determined that there is no common […]
Although 30 years old this year, section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 still requires its application to be determined by the High Court. In Maxwell v Highway Hauliers Ltd [2014] HCA 33 the High Court has resolved the apparent tension between 2 different Court of Appeal decisions in Maxwell and Johnson v Triple […]
In breaking news, in a decision handed down on 6 August 2014, the Victorian Court of Appeal has determined that, pursuant to section 134 of the Building Act 1993 (Vic), the applicable limitation period for commencing a “building action“, whether in contract or in tort, is 10 years from the date that the relevant occupancy […]
