Legislation passed by Victoria state lawmakers lifting the ban on contingency fees in class actions will not lead to US-style litigation entrepreneurialism, but it may also not have the desired effect of encouraging smaller and more risky claims, experts told Lawyerly.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has agreed to pay 1,800 current and former casual staff $12 million in unpaid wages, following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman that found some workers were paid less than minimum wage.
Ardent Leisure, which operates the Dreamworld theme park in Queensland, is facing a shareholder class action over a 2016 tragedy in which four people died following a ride malfunction.
Medical technology company Respiri has settled a lawsuit brought by its former CEO alleging he was terminated for seeking to expand into the Indian market against the wishes of the ASX-listed company’s board.
A Marshall Islands-based binary options trader has been hit with a $1.8 million penalty after a judge found it engaged in the “deliberate deception of vulnerable people”.
A powerful US business lobbying group should not be allowed to influence Australian politicians as they consider reforms to the country’s class action regime, two leading plaintiffs firms have said. But a lawyer for the group said singling it out was hypocritical given how many overseas litigation funders have hired firms to represent their interests in the current class action debate.
A judge has rejected a bid by the CFMEU to pause a trial brought by two sacked union officials while the court gives the country’s attorneys-general a chance to intervene over constitutional arguments raised, saying the union’s barrister was wrong that the issues in the case could not be split up.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is seeking a contempt finding against a former solicitor for defunct vocational trainer Empower Institute over alleged billing practices.
The Full Federal Court has thrown out the ACCC’s challenge to a ruling dismissing its case alleging Kimberly-Clark made misleading representations about its flushable wipes.
ASIC has slapped an Australian unit of French investment bank Société Générale with additional licence conditions for failing to comply with its obligations for handling client money over a near four-year period.