Elizabeth Collins

The NSW Court of Appeal has said it has no power to exclude group members who do not sign up to a class action from participating in a settlement, upholding a controversial decision that the Full Federal Court said was “plainly wrong”. 

A former director of Noumi has won his challenge to the food manufacturer’s claim for legal professional privilege over a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by its lawyers at Ashurst, with a judge finding the company waived privilege by disclosing it to Australian Securities and Investments Commission. 

Noumi has argued a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by its lawyers at Ashurst is protected by legal professional privilege, after the food manufacturer admitted to overstating the value of its inventory and failing to properly disclose its financial position.

A former Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills partner who alleges he was sacked for complaining about Lendlease’s “aggressive taxation position” has lost a bid to argue before the High Court that his claims are covered by new whistleblower protections.

Awaiting judgment in Federal Court class actions by shareholders over its money laundering risk disclosures, the Commonwealth Bank will ask the court to reopen the case to consider the relevance of two recent decisions that found shareholders in other class actions had failed to prove loss.

Companies and government entities paid out less to settle class actions in 2023 than in the previous two years, with no mega settlements hitting their pocketbooks.

The funders that bankrolled a securities class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson will ask the court to give them an $8 million cut of a $40 million settlement. A further $12 million in legal fees means shareholders will get 50 per cent of the settlement sum.

Food manufacturer Noumi is trying to reach agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on a penalty to propose to the court for violating its continuous disclosure obligations by overstating the value of inventory.

A judge has signed off on a $110 million settlement in a long-running shareholder class action against AMP over its fees-for-no-service conduct, including $26 million in costs for law firm Maurice Blackburn.

A judge has refused a bid by four major insurers to obtain the names of small businesses that register to join COVID-19 business interruption class actions, saying he did not want the companies contacting group members.