The High Court has agreed to rule on whether common fund orders can ever be made in class actions, including so-called solicitors’ common fund orders allowing lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement.
If it takes up the Federal Court’s ruling in favour of solicitors seeking to earn a cut from a class action, the High Court will be asked to overrule its 2019 decision against common fund orders.
Three former Blue Sky directors who were originally named in a shareholder class action against the collapsed fund manager might be “dragged back” into the case after its chief operating officer pointed the finger at him in his defence, a court has heard.
A property developer has been ordered to pay $11.2 million to the liquidators of Plutus Payroll after a judge found he helped an employee of the defunct payroll services company “wash” money he blackmailed from the company’s directors.
The High Court has been asked to overturn a Full Court decision finding lawyers can take a cut from a class action settlement under a solicitors’ common fund order and to finally settle the question of whether the court has the power to issue common fund orders at all.
Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.
Hearing arguments Tuesday on whether lawyers should be permitted to earn contingency fees in Federal Court class actions, judges on a Full Court bench appeared to lean in favour of allowing so-called solicitors’ common fund orders, rejecting claims they are “unjust”.
Defunct investment firm Blue Sky has denied a class action’s claims that it misled shareholders ahead of its 2019 collapse and has pointed the finger at auditor EY.
Weeks after giving the thumbs up to common fund orders at settlement, the Full Federal Court has been asked to decide whether judges have power to order payment of a commission to class action solicitors — not just funders.
Nuix had information in January 2021 which undermined the growth story presented to the market in the prospectus for its IPO, a court has heard on the first day of ASIC’s case against the tech company and a handful of former directors.