Lawyers at Herbert Smith Freehills panicked as their client Uber obfuscated a regulator’s investigation during an alleged unlawful conspiracy to launch illegal rideshare operations, a trial has heard.
The state of Victoria has won its bid to prevent lawyers for a class action over Victoria’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle from proofing lay witnesses, ahead of a criminal trial against the Department of Health, which is due to start in May.
A five-year-old class action against BHP over the collapse of a Brazilian dam is seeking to amend the group definition following a judgment limiting the class size, but the mining company says it should not be punished for the applicant’s pleading mistake.
A judge has ordered a litigation funder bankrolling an investor class action against Virgin Australia to show evidence it can meet a $10 million agreed indemnity with the airline, saying it was not being transparent about its financial position.
The law firm behind a class action against Insurance Australia Group has secured a group costs order that will give it 30 per cent of any proceeds — a contingency fee rate six percentage points higher than the median rate for shareholder cases.
A judge has dismissed a bid by Medibank to restrain the Office of Australian Information Commissioner from proceeding with a class action-style complaint on behalf of millions of the private health insurer’s customers affected by an October 2022 data breach.
National Australia Bank has lost its bid to shield a case by a Melbourne gold bullion dealer after a judge said one of the bank’s arguments for suppression had “the air of a Kafka novel”.
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.
A judge has cut law firm Levitt Robinson’s costs in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, finding the solicitors were “seriously derelict” in serving their evidence on loss and ran up over $1 million in avoidable costs.
An investor class action against Virgin Australia has mounted a new challenge to a contentious indemnity clause, which the airline claims entitles it to receive periodic payments for its legal costs in defending the claims.