Australian Family Lawyers to open new Perth office

AF Legal Group (ASX: AFL) has announced the company's expansion to Western Australia with a new Australian Family Lawyers office in Perth to open in November. The new office will be the group's fifth office to open this calendar year, following the openings of AFL in Canberra, Maroochydore, Caloundra and Adelaide. "The opening...

Lawcadia launches intelligent engine to automate legal tasks

After notching 72 per cent revenue growth in FY20, legal Software as a Service (SaaS) group Lawcadia is striving for new heights with a product powered by machine learning. The Brisbane-based company is already Australia's leading provider of matter and spend management solutions for in-house legal teams and their law firms, but its...

Former Leighton CFO has conviction quashed on appeal

Peter Alan Gregg, the former CFO of Leighton Holdings, received a verdict of acquittal yesterday after appealing his conviction on two counts of falsifying the books. As such, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the two verdicts of guilty handed down in August 2018 and entered a verdict of acquittal on each count. The original charge...

Ardent Leisure fined $3.6m over Dreamworld tragedy

The operator of Australia's largest theme park has been fined $3.6 million for safety regulation breaches that led to the deaths of four people in 2016. Ardent Leisure (ASX: ALG) pleaded guilty to three charges under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), stemming from the 2016 Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy at Dreamworld on ...

Oscar Wylee hit with $3.5m fine over misleading charity claims

Eyeware retailer Oscar Wylee has been ordered to pay $3.5 million in penalties by the Federal Court after its 'buy a pair, give a pair' marketing claim was found to be misleading. The company admitted that between January 2014 and December 2018 it made statements that for each pair of glasses a customer purchased it would donate anot...

NAB subsidiaries to pay record $57m penalty for fees for no service breaches

Two of NAB's (ASX: NAB) wealth management division entities have been ordered to pay a combined $57.5 million penalty for fees for no service (FFNS) breaches, the largest penalty for a civil action brought by the corporate watchdog in history. NULIS Nominees and MLC Nominees were found by the Federal Court of Australia to have made false...

Business insolvency and bankruptcy protections extended until the end of 2020

Temporary insolvency and bankruptcy protections to assist financially distressed Australian businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic have been extended until 31 December 2020. The Federal Government will introduce regulations to extend the temporary increase in the threshold at which creditors can issue a statutory demand on a company, as wel...

ASIC obtains interim injunctions against Mayfair 101 founder

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has obtained interim orders in the Federal Court of Australia today against companies in the Mayfair 101 group and their director James Mawhinney. The orders include the appointment of provisional liquidators to M101 Nominees, the issuer of M Core Fixed Income Notes which Mayfair 101...

Former BlueScope manager pleads guilty to obstructing investigation

Jason Ellis (pictured), the former general manager of sales and marketing at BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL), has entered a guilty plea to one charge of obstructing a cartel investigation today. Ellis pleaded guilty in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court this morning to inciting two fellow BlueScope employees to give false information and evi...

Facebook threatens to block news sharing

Digital giant Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) says it will ban Australian publishers from sharing news on social media sites Facebook and Instagram if a new mandatory code of conduct becomes law. The draft code, unveiled in July, establishes a framework through which news publishers can negotiate with digital platforms to secure fair payment for conte...

Shine resilient with healthy profit growth

Listed law firm Shine Justice (ASX: SHJ) saw its profits rise by 53.6 per cent to $21.5 million in FY20 as the business weathered the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. EBITDA also rose by 7.8 per cent to $51.15 million for the full year, and revenue grew by 2.9 per cent. Managing director and CEO Simon Morrison says Shine's business...

Slater & Gordon delivers $950 million to clients

Class action and personal injury law firm Slater & Gordon (ASX: SGH) has delivered around $950 million to its clients during FY20. Slater & Gordon delivered $700 million in personal injury compensation to clients and $250 million in class action settlements on behalf of more than 55,000 Australians by the end of June 2020. This bus...

ASIC comes for IOOF subsidiary over inadequate cyber security infrastructure

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has launched legal proceedings against a subsidiary of IOOF (ASX: IFL) for failing to have adequate cyber security systems. The case, now in the Federal Court, follows a number of alleged cyber breach incidents at authorised representatives of RI Advice Group, an Australian Financial...

AF Legal founder steps aside from MD role to focus on client acquisition tech

On the same day AF Legal (ASX: AFL) has announced sales and profit growth as it expands its family law practices nationwide, the company's founder is stepping away from management to focus on a strategic project for generating future growth. The Sydney-based company has today reported a 39 per cent increase in revenue to $6.9 million ...

Harold Mitchell found guilty over involvement in Seven's Tennis Australia deal

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has been successful in its case against Harold Mitchell, a former director of Tennis Australia, over his involvement in a deal with Seven Network. Mitchell has been found guilty on three occasions for breaches of the Corporations Act today, but the court declined to disqualify the...

Digital platforms to pay for Australian news content under mandatory code of conduct

Facebook and Google will have to remunerate Australian news media companies under a mandatory code of conduct designed to level the playing field and govern an unbalanced relationship. Unveiled today by Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the draft code establishes a framework through which news publishers can negotiate with digital platfo...

Former G8 Education chair Jenny Hutson to stand trial on 29 charges

More than two years after the corporate watchdog announced multiple charges against businesswoman Jenny Hutson, she is now set to stand trial at the Queensland District Court in Brisbane. Following a committal hearing before the Brisbane Magistrates' Court, the former G8 Education (ASX: GEM) chair will face 29 charges on a date t...

Keybridge returns to the Takeovers Panel to block Wilson bid

Nicholas Bolton-helmed Keybridge Capital (ASX: KBC) has once again found itself applying to the Takeovers Panel to try and stop WAM Active's (ASX: WAA) latest takeover bid. The proceedings relate to a long-running tug-of-war between the two, culminating in WAM's latest takeover bid lodged on the ASX in early July. Though a sit...

ACCC takes Google to court over personal data use

As Google prepares to face the US House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee along with other tech giants, the online search and advertising behemoth has a new legal challenge to contend with on the other side of the world here in Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched legal proceedings in the F...

Ardent Leisure charged over Dreamworld tragedy

The operator of Dreamworld, Ardent Leisure (ASX: ALG), could be hit with $4.5 million in fines over charges relating to the Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy in 2016. The company confirmed that the Queensland Work Health and Safety Prosecutor has today filed three charges against Ardent Leisure in the Magistrates Court, alleging the compa...

Clive Palmer charged with fraud over alleged dishonest transfers

Mining mogul Clive Palmer has been charged with two counts of breaching directors' duties and two counts of fraud, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleging he dishonestly enriched his own political party. The corporate watchdog alleges Palmer dishonestly obtained a benefit for both his company Cosmo De...

Westpac hit with second class action over flex commission car loans

Westpac (ASX: WBC) is facing a second class action about the use of 'flex commission loans' with car dealers. Law firm Maurice Blackburn alleges Westpac and subsidiary St George Finance colluded with car dealers to "sting" consumers with high interest loans. It mirrors a class action launched by Shine Lawyers (ASX: S...

AF Legal to establish South Australian footprint with Adelaide office

Australian Family Lawyers (ASX: AFL) has today announced its third regional expansion since its June 2019 IPO, with plans to set up a South Australian operation based in Adelaide next month. The company recently set up shop on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with two offices in Maroochydore and Caloundra in June, following a Canberra...

Shine launches class action against Westpac over alleged "rip-off" car loans

Class action law firm Shine Lawyers (ASX: SHJ) has launched a class action against Westpac (ASX: WBC) and its subsidiaries, alleging the bank and car dealerships ripped-off customers with dodgy loans. The class action alleges so-called 'flex commission loans' unfairly rorted customers through a scheme that has since been banned by...

Former Quantum Resources CEO charged with insider trading

The former CEO and director of gold mining company Quantum Resources (now known as Nova Minerals (ASX: NVA) has been charged with insider trading offences. Avrohom Mordechai Kimelman of St Kilda East appeared in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria today charged with four counts of procuring the acquisition of shares in Quantum while in...

Dodo and iPrimus in court for allegedly misleading customers about NBN speeds

The Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken Dodo and iPrimus to court, alleging the two mislead customers about the internet speeds they could achieve on the NBN. The ACCC alleges that between March 2018 and April 2019, Dodo and iPrimus, two Internet service providers owned by Vocus Group (ASX: VOC), made false or m...

Watchdog sues CBA, Colonial First State alleging conflicted influence

Around 390,000 people signed up to a superannuation fund through the alleged influence of $22 million in conflicted remuneration from Colonial First State to the Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), according to civil proceedings filed by the corporate watchdog. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleges the payment...

Historic legal challenge against Clive Palmer's Galilee Coal Project commences today

A group of young climate activists and rural land holders will take on Clive Palmer's Galilee Coal Project in the Queensland courts today, marking the first time a coal mine has been challenged on human rights grounds in Australia. Represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, the coalation Youth Verdict will argue the project op...

Piper Alderman launches shareholder class action over Dreamworld tragedy

Theme park operator Ardent Leisure (ASX: ALG) has announced to the market it was served with a shareholder class action yesterday in relation to the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy. After the market closed yesterday the Sydney-headquartered group reported the proceedings had been filed by law firm Piper Alderman in the Federal Court of Austr...

Class action alleges electricity giants fudged supply numbers for profit

Law firm Piper Alderman has launched a class action on behalf of all Queenslanders against two of the State's leading electricity giants. The action alleges Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy engaged in "bidding games" designed to artificially create scarcity of supply of electricity and to spike energy prices for their own ...