Arguing it shouldn’t be the victim of an “accident of timing”, the funder that bankrolled the landmark stolen wages class action is fighting to save a common fund order granting it 20 per cent of a $190 million settlement in the case, despite a recent High Court judgment shooting down the orders.
German cladding manufacturer 3A Composites has again threatened to call for the de-classing of a class action brought over allegedly combustible cladding, slamming the case against it as “simply shambolic” and the conduct of the applicant as “utterly irresponsible”.
Judges have no power to order all class action members to pay a proportion of a litigation funder’s commission out of their share of a settlement, the High Court has ruled in a landmark judgment that deals a huge defeat to litigation funders.
The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
The Federal Court judge overseeing three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over allegedly toxic firefighting foam has criticised the government’s handling of the case, saying the court did not have to ask permission for how to run the proceedings.
A hearing for approval of a $190 million settlement in a historic class action over unpaid wages to thousands of Indigenous workers has been adjourned to next month after a judge appointed a referee to scrutinise the fees charged by the law firm behind the case.
A judge has consolidated competing shareholder class actions against builder Lendlease brought by rival plaintiffs law firms, but has rejected the firms’ bid to jointly run the litigation and says one of them must go.
Two special purpose liquidators appointed to collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group are investigating a potential lawsuit against KPMG, which audited the doomed business prior to its $800 million collapse in 2014.
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.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee is set to go out in the field on a nationwide tour to personally inspect the military bases and surrounding properties at the heart of three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over land contamination from allegedly toxic firefighting foam.