Robert Dick

A judge has approved a $300 million settlement in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson and unit Ethicon — the largest settlement in the history of Australian product liability group proceedings — but a $100 million deduction for legal costs has yet to get the greenlight. 

S&P Global is fighting bids to expand a class action alleging systemic defects in its ratings systems to a new type of complex financial product and to include allegations from a US Department of Justice case in a separate suit by two Cayman Islands-based companies.

Sixteen law firms and accounting firms have thrown their hat in the ring to administer a $300 million settlement in two class actions against Johnson & Johnson over pelvic mesh devices that injured thousands of women.

A contradictor appointed in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has blasted a $300 million settlement, calling it “massively” short of what is owed to group members, after a judge preliminarily found the sum was not fair and reasonable.

A judge has opened the administration of a $300 million settlement in a pelvic mesh class action to a competitive bidding process, shortly after another judge said law firms were not uniquely qualified to distribute class action spoils.

Class action settlement sums reached new highs last year, with the ten largest agreements totalling almost $1 billion, almost half of which was secured by one plaintiff law firm.

Philips Electronics will not face a class action in Australia over recalled sleep apnea machines that contained a foam component that could  degrade and cause consumers to inhale dangerous chemicals, after the law firm running the litigation decided to drop the case.

Gold Coast ‘finfluencer’ Tyson Scholz provided illegal financial services by giving tips on his Instagram account and to customers who paid for access to his seminars and ‘Black Wolf Pit’ chat room, a judge has found.

A contradictor in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has opposed Shine Lawyers recovering $100 million in costs from a $300 million settlement, which a judge has preliminarily found is not fair and reasonable to group members.

A judge has savaged Shine Lawyers over its failure to present a signed settlement agreement to the court a month after Johnson & Johnson Medical and unit Ethicon agreed to pay $300 million to settle two pelvic mesh class actions, ordering the firm to explain on the record what steps have been taken to finalise the settlement.