The judge who last month approved a $29 million settlement in a consumer class action against Radio Rentals has held that courts have power to order part of a settlement sum to go to charitable causes where distributing the funds to group members is too hard or impossible.
Companies and other defendants forked over big sums last year to settle more than 20 class actions, with a total of at least $734 million being paid out. Here are the top 10 class action settlements and the law firms and funders that negotiated them.
A judge has given his seal of approval to a $29 million settlement that resolves a class action over Radio Rentals’ Rent, Try, $1 Buy scheme alleging customers were kept in the dark about the true cost of their rentals.
A Federal Court judge has expressed concerns about whether group members in three class actions against the Commonwealth over allegedly toxic firefighting foam will be blocked from pursuing personal injury claims related to the chemical.
After being flooded with phone calls by class members wanting a share of a recent $16.4 million settlement with Cash Converters, law firm Maurice Blackburn will implement an automated message system to handle queries from 164,000 group members in the settled class action against Radio Rentals.
The $29 million settlement in the Radio Rentals ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ class action is back on track after concerns by former CEO James Marshall about uncertainty in the deed of settlement were resolved.
A judge has thrown out an unlawful dismissal case brought by former HWL Ebsworth special counsel against the firm, describing his arguments as “trivial” and “wholly unrealistic”.
Radio Rentals and its insurer, AIG, have reached a $29 million settlement in a consumer class action alleging the company pushed misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ leases onto vulnerable customers.
A consumer class action against Radio Rentals over its ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ scheme is “very close” to settling, a court heard Monday, with just a few more days required to negotiate a final agreement.
The applicants in the Radio Rentals “Rent, Try $1 Buy” class action have flagged the potential for prejudice caused by the respondents’ late evidence, with concerns about their capacity to be ready by the looming trial date if ongoing settlement negotiations hit a dead-end.