A Victoria Supreme Court judge weighing for the first time an application by a law firm for a percentage cut of recoveries in class actions has been told to reject the bid because group members would fare better under the firm’s current no win, no fee funding arrangement.
Kraft has agreed to pay Bega $9.25 million as part of a settlement resolving a long-running battle over peanut butter trade dress rights, after the US consumer goods giant exhausted all its options for appealing a ruling that found Bega had acquired the rights to the trade dress.
Engineering giant UGL will file proceedings against two unions seeking to block them from funding an underpayments class action on behalf of casual workers, with a judge noting the Full Court may need to weigh in on whether unions can fund class actions.
A judge has given Generic Health more time to file its evidence in a multimillion-dollar dispute with drug makers Otsuka and Bristol-Myers Squibbs over the delayed launch of generic versions of their antipsychotic drug Abilify, but warned there had to be a cut-off point for preparing the decade-long dispute for trial.
Global resources giant BHP Group has lost an appeal in its fight to exclude foreign investors from a shareholder class action over the 2015 Fundao dam disaster, after arguing the class action regime applies only to those in Australia.
Many junior lawyers bemoan getting stuck reviewing discovery when they first start their careers, but for barrister Jennifer Collins it is one of the best parts of the job.
SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has lost a bid to shield his medical records from three publishers less than a week before his high-profile defamation case kicks off in the Federal Court.
The judge overseeing a conflicted remuneration class action against Suncorp has locked in a trial date for May next year over the protests of the applicants, saying it was “not a good look” for class actions to “hang” around.
Furniture retailer Nick Scali Ltd must respond to subpeonas served by law firm Sparke Helmore seeking files held by the company’s new firm, Allens, in a case over $500,000 in unpaid fees that alleges CEO Anthony Scali knowingly gave false instructions to his solicitors.
The ACCC has suffered a stinging defeat in its criminal cartel action against mobility equipment provider Country Care, its CEO and a former employee, with a jury handing down not guilty verdicts on all eight charges in the case.