Judges have no power to order all class action members to pay a proportion of a litigation funderās commission out of their share of a settlement, the High Court has ruled in a landmark judgment that deals a huge defeat to litigation funders.
The Federal Court judge overseeing three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over allegedly toxic firefighting foam has criticised the government’s handling of the case, saying the court did not have to ask permission for how to run the proceedings.
The funder backing a shareholder class action against Woolworths wants a 35 percent slice of any settlement or judgment in the $100 million case, according to its agreement with the applicants.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee is set to go out in the field on a nationwide tour to personally inspect the military bases and surrounding properties at the heart of three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over land contamination from allegedly toxic firefighting foam.
A judge is considering whether he can increase a record $75 million civil penalty settlement reached by Volkswagen and the ACCC over the dieselgate scandal, after saying the people of Australia would be āupsetā if they knew about some of the āoutrageousā terms to which the consumer watchdog had agreed.
Westpac has offered an appeals court two more reasons to affirm its victory in a closely watched responsible lending case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission over almost 262,000 home loans.
Volkswagen is nearing the end of the road in the dieselgate scandal in Australia, as the car company agrees to an in-principle resoltion of enforcement action by the ACCC while also finalising the details of the settlement of five class actions worth up to $127 million.
The judge overseeing multiple class actions against Volkswagen over its dieselgate emissions scandal has said he will āneed persuadingā before reallocating the settlement approval to a different judge, because āthatās something that happens in Victoriaā.
Boutique class action firm Bannister Law has been told ānot to make too much noiseā from its spot at āthe back of the busā in the VW dieselgate class actions, after its legal team flagged its intention to try and expedite the $127.1 million settlement approval process.
After four years of litigation, the Volkswagen diesel emissions class actions have reached an in-principle settlement of up to $127.1 million, with affected consumers expected to receive $1,400 per vehicle on average if 100 per cent participation is achieved.