Alistair Pound

The applicants in a shareholder class action against the former Freedom Foods have failed in a bid to cross-examine Noumi’s inhouse counsel on affidavits swearing to the legal professional privilege of 3,000 documents, including material containing advice from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a class action long delayed by a battle over foreign shareholders, BHP Group has finally filed a defence, denying it misled shareholders over a failed Brazilian dam and saying knowledge about the risk of collapse cannot be imputed to the Melbourne-headquartered energy giant.

Lawyerly’s Litigation Law Firms of 2022 racked up precedent-setting victories in a year that continued to see major developments in class action law.

An anti-lockdown protester has lost her appeal of a decision dismissing her legal challenge to Victoria’s stay-at-home orders, with an appeals court finding the reduction in risk to public health “outweighed” impacts on freedom of speech.

A shareholder class action against a2 Milk has won its bid to include claims under New Zealand law over the dairy company’s disclosures to the New Zealand stock exchange.

A judge has signed off on a group costs order in a shareholder class action against food company Noumi and auditor Deloitte guaranteeing group members a return of at least 78 per cent, but noted the law firms’ cut may need to be reviewed to avoid a “disproportionate return”.

Two class action firms have refused to provide an undertaking that would fix the rate of their contingency fee in a consolidated shareholder class action against food company Noumi and auditor Deloitte over $590 million in accounting irregularities.

BHP Group has lost its High Court battle to keep foreign investors from an Australian shareholder class action over the devastating collapse of a Brazilian dam.

A consolidated class action’s bid to include claims concerning dairy company a2 Milk’s disclosures to the New Zealand stock exchange is in doubt, despite broad agreement between the parties that the claims can be pursued in Victoria.

Slater & Gordon has defeated Shine Lawyers in a contest to run a shareholder class action against Beach Energy, with a judge finding Shine’s tiered contingency fee arrangement was “mere window dressing”.