Australia’s richest person lost an appeal last Friday for a confidential court hearing over the handling of her family's multibillion-dollar trust, placing her battle against three of her children concerning the mining empire started by her father in open court. The trust owns almost a quarter of Hancock Prospecting, one of the world’s largest privately owned iron ore mining companies.
Gina Rinehart lost a bid in March to keep the case out of the public eye, and argued that under an agreement reached by the family in 2006 and 2007, the dispute should be settled through private arbitration or mediation. The New South Wales Court of Appeal ruled that the dispute was not covered by that agreement and ordered her to pay court costs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/business/global/australias-richest-woman-to-battle-children-in-open-court.html?ref=arbitrationconciliationandmediation
