A group costs order giving class action solicitors a percentage cut of the proceeds of a case is a factor in weighing whether proceedings should be transferred from Victoria to a state in which such an order could not operate, the High Court has ruled.
Are group costs orders a factor in deciding a bid to transfer a class action? Can the orders survive the move to an inhospitable state? These questions are to be decided by the High Court Wednesday, in a ruling that will clarify the relevance and reach of Victoria’s contingency fee regime.
The High Court has overturned a controversial decision that put a judge on the hook for a man’s false imprisonment, finding that all judges are immune from civil suits for acts done in the performance of their judicial duties.
In a landmark ruling, the High Court has recognised the availability of damages for psychiatric injury caused by an employer’s negligent dismissal process, restoring a $1.4 million award to a former non-profit employee.
A judge has overturned energy minister Chris Bowen’s refusal to greenlight energy company Seadragon’s offshore wind farm project off the coast of Gippsland.
A Sydney barrister and solicitor have settled a dispute over a $320,000 bill initially estimated to cost $60,000 after an appeals court found two costs agreements were void and held that courts should take a “purposive approach” to the rules governing costs disclosure obligations.
In submissions to the High Court, the applicant in a class action brought on behalf of Arrium shareholders against KMPG has attacked the Attorney-General’s argument that a contingency fee order is a neutral factor in assessing the accounting firm’s bid to move the case from Victoria.
The NSW Supreme Court would have the power to deal with a contingency fee order made in a class action against KPMG if the accounting firm won its application to move the case from Victoria, making the existence of the order a neutral factor in the transfer bid, the federal Attorney-General has told the High Court.
A judge has granted leave to law firm Levitt Robinson to challenge a ruling cutting $1.14 million of its fees from a settled class action against retirement home operator Aveo, finding the appeal was sufficiently arguable.
Seeking leave to challenge a decision that shaved $1.14 million from its costs in running a class action against Aveo, Levitt Robinson has argued the firm would have enjoyed a right of appeal if it had been joined to the case as it ought to have been.