The census debacle - Cove Legal comments to the AFR on the legal fallout

The recent Australian census debacle is the hottest topic in the press this week, and Roger Blow of Cove Legal was asked by the Australian Financial Review to provide his expert views on the likely legal fallout from the website failure.  Read the full article via the link below.

It has certainly been a bad news week for both the ABS and IBM, but as Roger comments, when it comes to launching any legal action there are many more considerations to take into account than merely the issue of who was at fault.  For example, a party can be liable for damages but have their liability capped within the contract, and when things really go wrong such clauses can have a massive impact on how the parties react.

http://www.afr.com/technology/enterprise-it/ibm-in-the-crosshairs-as-census-blame-game-heats-up-towards-a-legal-fight-20160811-gqq602

Cove Legal acting on high value tax dispute

For the past 18 months Cove Legal has been representing two tax payers in their long running battle with the ATO over amended assessments that demanded amounts which the clients argued were considerably in excess of their genuine debts.  The case has raised relatively novel issues concerning the use of freezing orders and the summary judgment process in cases where it is argued the tax payers have not had the opportunity to properly challenge the ATO's assessment.  An Appeal is currently being run by Cove Legal before the Full Federal Court that includes a constitutional challenge to the imposition of tax debts without a proper right of review.

Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/315...