Epic Games lawsuit could lead to biggest single class action in Aus history

Daily wrap  

• The biggest tech court case in Australian history you've never heard of
   

• In-coming ACT director of public prosecutions Victoria Engel says she expects to be briefed on Bruce Lehrmann's failed defamation case - ABC News
   

• Warren Tredrea avoids having to pay Channel 9 legal fees after losing unfair dismissal case - ABC News
   

  • Tredders Investments Pty Ltd as trustee for Warren Tredrea Trust v Channel 9 South Australia (No 4) [2024] FCA 453
     

• Judge dismisses legal challenge of public housing tower residents forced to move - ABC News
   

• Ex-lawyer charged over cocaine in frozen chickens bust
   

• Faruqi v Hanson: how the racial discrimination case started – and what will determine how it ends | Australia news | The Guardian
   

• Monica Smit: Melbourne anti-lockdown activist’s unlawful fundraiser | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
   

  • Monica Smit and Reignite Democracy Australia convicted - Consumer Affairs Victoria
     

• Domestic violence lawyer constantly checks to see if a client has been killed when news alerts ping their phone [SMH paywall]
   

Editor’s picks

• ChatGPT, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Large Language Models, and Law by Harry Surden :: SSRN
   

• "Stop the Votes!" - Ending voting fraud in Australia - Anne Twomey - YouTube
   

• Harmonising Sexual Consent Law in Australia: Goals, Risks and Challenges - Guzyal Hill, Jonathan Crowe
  “The 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, sought to persuade ‘all governments across Australia to adopt the same definitions of consent, grooming, the age of a child, and sexual intercourse’. However, sexual consent law harmonisation in Australia faces formidable obstacles. We argue that an affirmative consent standard represents the appropriate goal of harmonisation, while potential risks include levelling-down reforms and undermining the role of competitive federalism. We identify four main obstacles to legal harmonisation, including strong advocacy coalitions, jurisdictional differences, historical failures and political disincentives. We conclude these obstacles do not mean harmonisation is undesirable or impossible, but it would require prolonged attention, resources and political will, as well as a nuanced understanding of the difficulties involved.”
   

• Fair Work Act will soon provide a ‘right to disconnect’ - Law Society Journal
   

• To act or not to act? That is the question - Law Society Journal

  Recent changes to the Legal Profession Uniform Solicitors’ Conduct Rules 2015 removed solicitors’ discretion to not act in cases in which they may be called to give evidence.
   

• How party/party costs determinations can frustrate solicitor/client costs disputes - Law Society Journal

  Ordinarily, a solicitor who has not disclosed costs to a client, as required by the Uniform Law, may not commence proceedings to recover those costs until after the costs have been assessed, or a costs dispute is determined by the local regulatory authority. However, the NSWCA has decided a party who recovers party/party costs on the basis it is liable for solicitor-billed costs cannot resile from that position later, even if the solicitor has not disclosed those costs.
   

  • Rahme v Kekatos Lawyers Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCA 31 (19 February 2024)
     

• The death of proportionate liability in NSW: is the obituary written in Pafburn? - Law Society Journal

  A recent NSW Court of Appeal decision has fundamentally altered legal liability in NSW in almost every design and building case.

  In construction cases, this means the effective death of proportionate liability in NSW, although leave to appeal to the High Court has been granted.
   

  • The Owners – Strata Plan No 84674 v Pafburn Pty Ltd - NSW Caselaw
     

• TASMC - Notice to Legal Practitioners 1 of 2024

  “The magistrates will commence wearing judicial robes from Monday, 6 May 2024.”
   

• Revealed: Serial dine-and-dash solicitor was struck off for ordering £43 Just Eat takeaway and shutting door on the delivery driver without paying [UK]
   

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