Lara O’Rorke

A judge presiding over a class action against Fletcher Building has clarified his relationship with the director of a litigation funder which is the basis of a recusal bid.

Evidence sought by Fletcher Building from a judge’s former law firm as part of the construction company’s recusal bid is inadmissible, a court has ruled.

A bid to disqualify a judge who spoke publicly about proposed reforms to class action law from hearing a class action against Fletcher Building is out of touch with reality, a court has heard.

A judge should be disqualified from hearing a class action against Fletcher Building because of his previous association with the funder, as well as public remarks he made as a plaintiffs’ solicitor, a court has heard. 

Australia Post unit StarTrack has won an injunction barring postal product manufacturer TMA Australia from using a website URL containing the words ‘StarTrack’, with the Full Court finding a judge wrongly held the case was ‘weak’.

A judge has given the green light to a $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, but reserved his decision about whether a contested amount of over $1 million should go to group members or the law firm that brought the case.

A judge asked to approve an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo is considering a proposal by court-appointed contradictors to set aside a percentage of the sum for group members, which would leave the law firm running the case $2 million out of pocket.

The judge asked to approve a settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo has sent a shot across the bow to law firms seeking to make broad confidentiality claims over the settlement, saying such claims should be kept “to a minimum” in class actions.

A judge has questioned an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, resolving to appoint a contradictor and a costs referee amid a dispute between the plaintiff law firm and its litigation funder, which the court heard has “grave concerns” about the costs incurred in the case.

A class action against Aveo Group has settled for $11 million mid trial, with the law firm that brought the case expressing regret for any “distress or anxiety” it caused and acknowledging the retirement village provider’s contracts with residents were lawful.