Women who were allegedly injured by defective pelvic mesh implants can apply to set aside two approved settlements against Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific worth $405 million.
A judge has expressed concerns after hearing that up to 20,000 group members in three pelvic mesh class actions have yet to receive payment from $405 million in settlements approved in March last year.
A class action over S&P’s rosy ratings on risky financial products faces a preliminary fight over the relevance of expert evidence that seeks to prove fraud on the part of the ratings agency.
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.
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.
The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement.
The Full Federal Court’s finding that the High Court did not extinguish the power of judges to make common fund orders on approval of class action settlements is the latest milestone in the evolution of Australian class action jurisprudence, experts say.
A judge has declined a union’s bid to throw out an employee class action against McDonald’s after the Full Federal Court confirmed that employee class actions are not precluded by the Fair Work Act.
A Federal Court judge’s endorsement of the novel idea of a ‘solicitors’ common fund order’ may reverse the trend of class action lawyers running to the Supreme Court of Victoria, where they can earn a contingency fee, to file their cases.