The eyes of class action lawyers will be on the High Court Tuesday as it hears arguments over a judge’s power to choose a single class action among competing proceedings and what, if anything, should be made of a case’s funding structure and likely returns to group members when picking a winner.
An amicus curiae will be appointed by the court to argue against a common fund order application by the funder backing a class action against two Insurance Australia Group subsidiaries, after the insurance giant agreed to a $138 million settlement last month.
A court has given the green light for opt out and registration notices to be sent to group members in a shareholder class action against AMP, despite objections by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action.
An appeals court has vacated orders sending opt out and registration notices to shareholders in a class action against AMP after a successful challenge by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action that was stayed after a high-profile litigation beauty parade last year.
The settlement arrangement resolving five class actions against Volkswagen, which carved out hefty legal fees from the $120 million payout to drivers, could become more prevalent as the spotlight is once again trained on the cost of class actions. But the approach is not without controversy, experts say.
A proposed notice to eligible group members in Maurice Blackburn’s class action against AMP over its fees for no services scandal threatened to bar unregistered shareholders from any settlement stemming from mediation in the case, a threat barred by a recent ruling finding that courts have no power to close class actions to signed up group members, an appeals court has heard.
A court has granted a request from Grosvenor Litigation Services, the funder that backed two class actions against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal, to suppress the details of a co-funding agreement with Vannin Capital.
A judge has found that the High Court’s landmark ruling last year blocking common fund orders in the early stages of a class action also barred them from being made at the conclusion of a proceeding, departing from several recent rulings on common fund orders.
After almost five years before the courts, a judge has approved an approximately $120 million settlement of five class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal, including a “very substantial” $43 million in fees and disbursements for one of the plaintiffs firms.
A NSW Supreme Court decision refusing to put a Maurice Blackburn-led shareholder class action against AMP on ice pending a High Court challenge has been appealed by the lead applicant of a competing case.