Lucy Dawson

A judge has approved a common fund order awarding $6.88 million to the funder behind a class action against Fonterra that settled for $25 million, opting not to wait for a much-anticipated appeals court ruling on the power to make CFOs at settlement.

The law firm that secured a $25 million settlement in a class action against dairy co-op Fonterra is fighting to recoup $5.4 million in legal fees, asking the court to disregard parts of an expert report slashing its fees.

A judge has indicated his willingness to approve a $25 million settlement in a class action against dairy co-op Fonterra, but deferred the question of the funder’s cut until after the Full Court rules on whether the court has the power to make a common fund order at settlement.

Group members in a class action against Fonterra are set to reap about $13 million from a $25 million settlement reached with the dairy company, following deductions including the costs of the litigation funder’s after-the-event insurance.

Fonterra has agreed to shell out $25 million to settle a class action by dairy farmers alleging they were underpaid when Fonterra slashed milk prices and sought a “clawback” in 2016.

Dairy co-operative Fonterra has lost a bid to keep the company’s name out of the domain of a website to be set up for a class action brought by farmers alleging they were unlawfully underpaid when Fonterra slashed milk prices and sought a “clawback” in 2016.

Fonterra has hit back at claims in a class action that the dairy giant misled farmers and breached its supply agreements when it slashed milk prices and sought a clawback in 2016, saying it warned farmers of the “extreme” volatility in the market.

Fonterra could bring counter-claims against dairy farmers that brought a class action alleging they were unpaid when the company slashed milk prices in 2016, a court has heard, after debt recovery proceedings by Fonterra against the lead applicants were joined with the class action.

A dispute over approximately $466,000 in unpaid legal costs has been sent to the Victorian Supreme Court after DLA Piper admitted it breached its disclosure obligations to a client in a patent case over a laser safety system.