A judge has signed off on almost $7.5 million in fees billed by the law firm behind the pelvic mesh class action against Boston Scientific, eight months after he approved the device maker’s $105 million settlement.
The judge who rewarded the law firm with the lowest ever GCO proposal with carriage of an $80 million class action this week noted the competitive forces that shaped a “very good deal for group members,” but competition has its downsides, experts say.
The winning, 14 per cent contingency fee proposal by Slater & Gordon in a fight to run a class action against Star Entertainment was not driven by a desire to prevail in the contest and buy market share but was the product of a “reasoned decision” that took into account the law firm’s practice as a whole, a judge has found.
One law firm has emerged victorious in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Star Entertainment with the lowest proposed group costs order since contingency fees legislation was enacted in Victoria.
A judge has approved a bid to consolidate two shareholder class actions against Medibank over a cyberattack that affected 10 million customers, finding that having two firms on the record is better than a carriage contest.
As it readies its civil penalty suit against tech company Nuix for trial, ASIC has flagged a possible dispute about the extent of penalty privilege pleaded by a handful of former and current directors named in the case.
A judge has signed off on a 25 per cent group costs order in a class action against Suncorp subsidiary AAI, after accepting that the back-up plan of law firm Maurice Blackburn was not artificially uncertain.
A judge overseeing a class action against Suncorp subsidiary AAI has questioned whether the “uncertain” plan B of a law firm seeking a 25 per cent group costs order was artificially uncertain to increase the relative appeal of its contingency fee bid.
Beach Energy has struck back at a shareholder class action over alleged misleading earnings projections for its oil and gas reserves in the Cooper Basin, saying it had reasonable grounds for its rosy predictions for production.
A judge has cautioned two law firms running competing shareholder class actions over last October’s cyber attack on Medibank that they must keep their focus on the best interests of clients and group members, saying lawyers can lose sight of that duty when arguing for their case.