William Edwards

Generic drug maker Mayne Pharma has resolved a shareholder class action centred on disclosures connected to price-fixing claims by US regulators.

Shareholders of Commonwealth Bank have lodged expected appeals challenging a decision tossing their class actions over alleged lax money laundering compliance, giving the Full Federal Court a chance to clarify when companies must disclose regulatory investigations.

A judge overseeing several cases against Optus over a September 2022 data breach has raised the possibility of hearing a class action against the telco alongside new proceedings brought by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

A judge has approved a $40 million settlement in a shareholder class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson, with almost half of the settlement to go towards a funder’s commission and legal fees. 

A judge has raised concerns about bids to declass group proceedings over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the thousands of policyholders who registered for the class actions might reap more from the cases than making claims directly with their insurers.

A judge will not allow a law firm that stepped in to lead class actions against Hyundai and Kia to amend its funding proposal to seek a group costs order ahead of a carriage fight, even though its proposal would have led to greater returns for group members.

The judge overseeing a consumer class action against wealth manager Colonial First State Investments has given the green light to a $100 million settlement, but questioned a $23.1 million cut to funder Augusta under a “strange” funding agreement.

Hearing arguments Tuesday on whether lawyers should be permitted to earn contingency fees in Federal Court class actions, judges on a Full Court bench appeared to lean in favour of allowing so-called solicitors’ common fund orders, rejecting claims they are “unjust”. 

Optus has lost its appeal of a decision that found the telco could not claim legal professional privilege over a Deloitte report into a major data breach, with an appeals court highlighting the lack of evidence from former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

While it was unfair for a judge to pick Gilbert + Tobin to run a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate, the judge was entitled to consider the law firm’s experience in a similar case against Toyota, an appeals court has said in its reasons.