There is lots of noise about the duties of financial advisers and lawyers including us love to debate whether FoFA has left any room for fiduciary obligations ...

Following a decision earlier this year preventing a solicitor from acting in a class action in which the solicitor managed and controlled the representative plaintiff the Victorian Supreme Court has held that a solicitor and senior counsel should be prevented from acting in a class action in which ...

In an important ruling the High Court has decided that a purchaser of leased premises will make a supply of the leased premises when after completion the purchaser observes its express obligations under the lease The decision provides much-needed certainty for vendors and purchasers of leased ...

A recent Federal Court decision means 'fly-in fly-out' workers cannot claim tax deductions for the cost of transport to and from work. ...

The Full Federal Court has held that a liquidator has no obligation to retain monies on account of tax until a notice of assessment has been issued While the decision is a win for taxpayers and creditors of insolvent entities it remains to be seen how the Commissioner of Taxation will respond ...

The Productivity Commissions draft report on its inquiry into Australias system of civil dispute resolution has now been released The comprehensive review focuses on ways to constrain costs and promote access to justice One of the areas the Productivity Commission is examining is Australias private ...

In a recent decision the Federal Court dismissed an application to set aside an arbitral award rendered in Australia on the basis that it breached the rules of natural justice In doing so the courts decision recognised the limited scope of the grounds upon which an award can be set aside under ...

After two years three rounds of public consultation and one aborted attempt Federal Parliament looks likely to pass legislation amending the rules governing when the Australian Taxation Office is required to refund excess GST to a taxpayer ...

In this issue we look at an unsuccessful challenge to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the Federal Court of Australia recent changes to the arbitration rules of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and the London Court of ...

In a unanimous decision the Full Federal Court has confirmed that genetic materials in their isolated form remain patentable in Australia The decision related to an appeal from an earlier Federal Court decision in which it was found isolated nucleic acids to be a manner of manufacture as required by ...