The Full Federal Court has ruled that unconscionable conduct under the Australian Consumer Law is not confined to exploitation of vulnerable parties, in an “extremely significant” judgment that will extend the reach of the unconscionable conduct provisions and protect a wider swathe of consumers.
A judge has allowed Woolworths to include details of its internal pay review processes in an opt out notice to be sent to disgruntled current and former employees who have launched a class action against the supermarket giant.
Pelvic mesh device maker Astora Women’s Health is weighing whether to make admissions in a class action over allegedly defective products in light of a similar, high profile class action brought against Johnson & Johnson unit Ethicon over the devices.
For two and a half years, law firm Baker McKenzie represented a client in class action litigation over allegedly defective pelvic mesh products that did not exist, a court has heard.
The rejection of a $27 million settlement offer in a class action over American Medical Systems’ pelvic mesh products may be included in a proposed opt out notice, with a judge mulling whether to inform group members about a little used law which allows one lead applicant to take over from another.
Lawyerly’s Litigation Firms of 2020 delivered significant victories for clients last year in bet-the-company matters, thriving in a tumultuous year that saw courts and litigants adapt to virtual trials and other new norms that are sure to outlast the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ACCC has reached the end of the line in its challenge to Pacific National’s $205 million acquisition of Aurizon’s Acacia Ridge Terminal in Queensland, with the High Court dismissing the competition regulator’s application to take up the appeal.
The Federal Court’s top judge has cautioned ASIC and insurers Allianz and AWP against presenting a “bastardised form of pleading” in the financial watchdog’s action over the alleged misleading sale of travel insurance to over 31,000 consumers.
ASIC’s case against GetSwift and its founders Joel Macdonald and Bane Hunter makes accusations against both directors but relies on alleged conduct by only Hunter, a lawyer for Macdonald has told a court on the last day of trial in the corporate regulator’s case.
Google has rejected claims by the ACCC that it tricked consumers into agreeing to expanded collection of their personal data, saying that it instead sought “explicit consent” from users through an “easy-to-understand opt-in consent mechanism”.