A litigation funder has abandoned its case seeking to prevent counsel retained by the lead applicant in the settled Montara oil spill class action from providing independent legal advice.
The funder bankrolling the settled class action against oil exploration company PTTEP wants a court-ordered injunction against a barrister to prevent him from giving independent legal advice to the lead applicant about his claim.
In one of the year’s biggest class action settlements, PTTEP Australasia has agreed to pay $192.5 million to settle a representative action over a 2009 oil spill that affected 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers.
PTTEP Australia’s appeal of a class action finding that it breached a duty of care to thousands of farmers impacted by the 2009 Montara oil spill has been put on hold amid a fight between the funder and lawyers that is cloaked in confidentiality.
This week’s judgment referring the conduct of lawyers behind the Banksia class action to prosecutors shows the effectiveness of unique legislative provisions in Victoria that should serve as a blueprint for federal reform, says barrister and University of New South Wales adjunct professor Dr Peter Cashman.
Class action reforms proposed last week by the Morrison government would lead to the “rapid abandonment” of open class actions by law firms and litigation funders, two leading barristers have argued.
Drawn in by economic incentives, more defence law firms are getting in on the class actions action, but playing both sides may have its drawbacks.
Elderly victims of Ponzi schemer Bradley Sherwin have told the government’s class action inquiry of their “horrendous class action journey”, which led to a “pathetic outcome” in which the majority of a $12 million settlement with the Bank of Queensland went to the law firm and funder behind the case.
The settlement arrangement resolving five class actions against Volkswagen, which carved out hefty legal fees from the $120 million payout to drivers, could become more prevalent as the spotlight is once again trained on the cost of class actions. But the approach is not without controversy, experts say.
A court has granted a request from Grosvenor Litigation Services, the funder that backed two class actions against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal, to suppress the details of a co-funding agreement with Vannin Capital.